THE KWAZULU-NATAL Department of Health has dismissed a claim that bodies are piling up at the Phoenix mortuary due to delayed post mortems.
It said that there is no backlog of autopsies at the mortuary.
In a post on Facebook on Saturday, a Durban father questioned the state of the mortuary where he said his son’s body was still lying on the floor in a police body bag at the facility a week later.
He said that post mortems had been delayed due to a lack of water and further alleged that he had been told to pay a bribe to expedite the release of his son’s body.
The DA KZN Spokesperson on Health, Dr Rishigen Viranna said on Monday that the party was aware of many complaints during the past few days from bereaved family members.
“Given the situation, the DA has approached KZN’s Health portfolio committee to request a full-scale, urgent inspection. We are pleased to report that this is being arranged for later this week,” Viranna said.
In response to the DA, spokesperson for the KZN Department of Health Ntokozo Maphisa said: “While we welcome any criticism that is based on facts, we reject the statement by the DA as untruthful, and parasitic grandstanding of the worst kind.”
He said had the DA tested the claims they were making, “they would have realised that what they are alleging is way off the mark”.
The department said at all its medico-legal mortuaries, including Phoenix mortuary, there was a team of dedicated employees who have been working around the clock to ensure that the public get the mortal remains of their loved ones as soon as possible.
He said there was no backlog of autopsies.
Regarding water supply at the mortuary, he said that on April 12 and 13 (Tuesday and Wednesday) after the floods, there was an intermittent water supply shortage and no autopsies were performed.
“However, shortly after that, water provision was prioritised and there has since never been any disruptions to normal operations because of water. According to the information at our disposal, there is no backlog as non flood-related autopsies have been performed concurrently with the flood-related ones in order to minimise delays.”
Maphisa said to date, 133 of the 134 flood related autopsies are complete at Phoenix mortuary alone.
“The doctors always allocate the autopsy cases to be conducted on a daily basis, in order to avoid backlogs and have fair and equitable case allocation.”
On the allegations of bribery, Maphisa said the department called upon any individual who has evidence of bribery to do the honourable thing and bring it forward.
He said this should include the full names of the perpetrators involved, and the location where it took place, so that it can be dealt with.
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