More pain has been piling on a grieving family failing to retrieve the body of a deceased relative and prepare for his burial owing to the ongoing mortuary strike that has paralysed pathology services in the east of Joburg.
The Tembisa family of Hannes Ntuli, 25, are furious with the Forensic Pathology Services in Germiston.
Sarah Ntuli, the mother of the deceased, said the family had been waiting since Monday for the body to be released by the government mortuary.
“We called many times and no one picked up. As a family we then decided that on Tuesday we will go there. When we got there, they allowed us to identify him and later they told us to come back on Thursday to get his body,” she said.
The family came back yesterday and were told that the post-mortem had not been done.
“I decided to come with my own funeral parlour to come and collect my son. It has been hours waiting for him. I can’t take this anymore. We were planning to bury him on Saturday but by the looks of things, it doesn’t seem like that will happen,” said Ntuli.
Acting Gauteng chief executive for Forensic Pathology Services Dr Medupe Modisane said the strike had not ended.
He underlined that many families were affected by the strike.
“The families are the worst affected because the officers are on strike. The matter is in court now trying to get the legal remedy. This strike is illegal and it is in contravention with the previous court order. We are waiting for the verdict from the court. If we are successful, the officers will be ordered to go back to work. Germiston is our biggest problem. We are hoping that the order would be that they go back to work,” Modisane said.
Gauteng Health Department spokesperson Lesemang Matuka said his office was trying to address the issue.
“The officials embarked on an illegal strike. The department is trying to address the deadlock. Dr Modisane is engaging with other facilities to try to assist,” Matuka said.
The Forensic Pathology Services in Hillbrow is one of the affected mortuaries.
One of the workers, who refused to be identified, said they were overworked.
“We work long hours and we end up doing things that we are not trained to do. We have been complaining about this and it seems like no one wants to take us seriously. We are demanding that they provide us with training so that everything can get back to normality.”
Some frustrated family members said they were contemplating taking legal action against the Forensic Pathology Services.
@SthembisoMedia