The Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) has appointed a Provincial Task Team to assist with the rising number of unclaimed and unidentified bodies at its 11 Forensic Pathology Service (FPS) mortuaries.
Addressing the media in Johannesburg on Tuesday, MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko said the backlog at the FPS mortuaries was a result of mass fatalities, cases with an outstanding medical history, circumstances that necessitate stakeholder involvement such as South African Police Service (SAPS), Correctional Services or a comprehensive medical history among others.
Since the appointment of the task team on Monday, 24 July 2023, this intervention has seen a quick turnaround in post-mortem examinations in these facilities.
“At this particular Hillbrow Mortuary alone, this move has resulted in 139 bodies being examined between 24 and 31 July 2023; out of the 139 bodies examined, 96 have been claimed or collected by their families, while 43 are still awaiting collection.
“To ensure uninterrupted service and speedy examination of bodies and their release to families without delay, the members of the task team are providing this support function on a 24-hour and seven days a week basis until we have the next 30 days while we finalise other processes,” said MEC Nkomo-Ralehoko.
Currently, Nkomo-Ralehoko said there were no backlogs of post-mortems in any of the mortuaries across the province.
The department is recruiting specialist Forensic Pathologists as part of its efforts to address staff shortages across FPS mortuaries in the province.
“We are also looking at recruiting previously employed forensic pathology doctors to perform sessional autopsy duties. Another ongoing process of recruitment is underway.
“The Gauteng Department of Health is looking at capacitating its mortuaries dealing with complex cases with in-house specialist Forensic Pathologist doctors to reduce the number of referrals to other facilities. Among these facilities is the Sebokeng Forensic Pathology Service, which refers complex cases to this Hillbrow mortuary. We are making interventions in this area to capacitate Sebokeng FSP,” she said.
In addition to the transformation of the FPS facilities, the department on 08 July 2023 unveiled the digital innovation, which has helped improve the quality of fingerprints collected, resulting in a quick turnaround time when it comes to the identification of the deceased.
“Through the Forensic Pathology Service Digital Fingerprint system, we have identified bodies and traced families of known unclaimed bodies.
“This system uses biometric scanners and third-party access to the Department of Home Affairs, South African Police Service and National Credit Bureaus database to identify deceased bodies and trace their relatives,” said Nkomo-Ralehoko.
The MEC urged grieving families to refrain from paying undertakers who request that they pay an extra R2 000 with a promise that they will engage government mortuaries to prioritise a case of their families.
“We are aware that some of these undertakers do not have the resources such as the required freezers. Some of them have grieving families pay for the service, when they, in fact, keep the bodies in our facilities and come to collect on Fridays knowing that the funeral is on the next day,” she added.
In collaboration with the South African Police Service (SAPS), the department will expand its awareness campaign to inform and educate the public about the Forensic Pathology Service.
By Thembisa Shologu
