[imagesource: The Drakenstein Crematorium]

The government has issued an urgent plea for families with missing loved ones to head to their nearest police stations, as the nation grapples with over 3,000 unclaimed bodies languishing in state mortuaries across the country.

Dr Sibogiseni Dhlomo of parliament’s portfolio committee on health said there were 3,186 bodies in state mortuaries, with KwaZulu-Natal accounting for 1,527 cases while the Eastern Cape has 526 cases.

“Many bodies are unclaimed due to a lack of identity documents and because relatives have not come forward to identify or retrieve them,” said Dhlomo. The committee added that other factors contributing to this mess include community-related issues, municipal challenges, delays in collecting DNA samples, insufficient burial sites and difficulties in identifying foreign nationals, per TimesLIVE.

Serious concerns have been raised about the public health and safety risks posed by the growing number of unclaimed bodies. Some committee members highlighted the urgent need for transparency amid allegations of corruption in mortuaries, where grieving families have allegedly been charged exorbitant fees to retrieve their loved ones.

The committee also questioned the effectiveness of DNA collection and testing procedures, demanding clarity on how the department intends to tackle the mounting backlog that’s stalling the identification of deceased individuals.

Deputy Health Minister Joe Phaahla said a comprehensive overview of progress regarding unclaimed bodies will be provided in October, detailing actions taken by the newly established National Forensic Pathology Service Committee.

Dr Thakadu Mamashela, chairperson of the committee, emphasised the need to address the root causes in an interview with Newzroom Afrika.

“If the mortuary space is occupied by 50 bodies lying there, the bodies that are coming in on a day-to-day basis, you have compromised them. For example, in Limpopo there was a bus accident on the N1 in Makhado. Unfortunately, when that happened, the designated facility was already overwhelmed in terms of the number of bodies lying there.”

Mamashela said this may affect the quality of service provided to families.

“We had to make plans to store the bodies because remains must be handed over in a dignified manner. So that is the main problem we’re having. Another problem is exposure of our staff to infectious diseases.”

Meanwhile, the Drakenstein Crematorium in Paarl has been managed under a veil of secrecy up until News24 recently unearthed the distressing allegations pitted against them, and the owner Johann van der Merwe.

Two sources consulted by the newspaper who indicated that they want to stay anonymous, stated that the crematorium is suspected of engaging in illegal activities, such as the improper disposal of bodies and ashes at landfills within the Drakenstein Valley.

They cited a lack of capacity to properly cremate the remains as a contributing factor.

Drakenstein Crematorium was authorised to cremate a maximum of eight bodies per day during operational hours (08:00 to approximately 18:00), but reports indicate that they have actually been cremating around 30 to 40 bodies per day.

Disturbingly, as a way to make extra money and to cope with the barrage of bodies that needed to be processed, the crematorium would accept dogs and often cremated multiple remains simultaneously, including those of the dogs.

As a result, families of the deceased did not always exclusively receive their loved one’s ashes.

Even though it is illegal to cremate animal carcasses alongside human remains, the crematorium seems to have turned a blind eye in order to make as much money as possible, one source noted.

Additionally, the crematorium only has one functioning oven, which means that bodies were not always fully cremated to make up for the time needed to get through the load.

“The remains, which consist of bones and human tissue as well as ashes, were then placed in bags along with the remains of animals, and dumped in landfills,” according to the source.

The source also claims that workers were instructed to dig a trench behind the crematorium, as well as one in Van der Merwe’s backyard in Courtrai, Paarl, where additional remains were allegedly buried.

“When these ditches were full, he [Van der Merwe] had to think of another plan to get rid of the residue, and that’s when he went to throw it away in landfills.”

Back in 2021, the health services and air quality management department of the Cape Winelands District Municipality (CWDM) addressed concerns regarding Van der Merwe, telling him to scale back in order to cremate the bodies thoroughly, proving that they were aware of some irregularities at the crematorium.

To make things more horrific, the crematorium, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of bodies, faced a dire shortage of refrigeration units and as a consequence, some bodies were left exposed for over a month, allegedly triggering a rat infestation.

One source stated that there was also an instance where “worms consumed a body’s head prior to cremation.”

Additional allegations against Van der Merwe stated that he told workers to remove the lids of the coffins so that the bodies would burn quicker, then sold the wooden plank lids to the public.

In the same email communication between the CWDM and Van der Merwe, he is also told to stop this alleged illegal practice.

Taking the corrupt practices to the next level, Van der Merwe created two fictitious doctors from Paarl within the crematorium’s system, who purportedly sign off on bodies to facilitate the cremation process. This was allegedly to save approximately R200 per body by avoiding payment for the doctors’ services, as well as hiding how many bodies were actually being cremated in a day.

Johan Rousseau, chair of the Funeral Industry Reformed Association (Fira), an independent funeral association in South Africa, filed a complaint with the Public Protector in August 2024, which is currently under investigation.

The complaint requests that the crematorium be temporarily closed during this inquiry, adding that the owner of the crematorium should face criminal prosecution from various authorities.

[sources:news24&timeslive]