The funeral of the late Mpho Calvin Tjale was held on Sunday, 27 February 2022 a week late from the initial date of the funeral. This was after the Tjale family found their boy’s private part missing from the mortuary.
Mpho was confirmed deceased by the paramedics on the 16th of February 2022 at his home in Etwatwa, after he suffered from epilepsy.
“After the paramedics confirmed that our boy has passed on, we contacted S’noxolo funerals to remove his body which was still intact. The body was taken to Bev Funerals for storage and the family was told that as a mortuary they are not supposed to remove clothes from the deceased without the presence of the family,”
“It came to our surprise when we went to collect his body from the mortuary for the burial preparations, and we found him on the stretcher and his clothes were removed without consulting us as the family,” said Bernard Tjale the spokesperson of the family.
Bernard added that Mpho was covered in a sheet only and had his underwear only. It was where they got suspicious and decided to remove the underwear, to their shock, they discovered that his private part was cut.
Speaking to Ekurhuleni News, Regional Chairman of NAFUPA SA, Freddie Mokoena said after the incident they advised the family to take the body to the government mortuary and that a post-mortem should be done.
“We do not know what happened to the boy’s private part and the law should take its place. We will further communicate upon any findings on this case,” he said.
The case was opened at Daveyton Police Station. No arrests have been made and the case is still under investigation.
By Simphiwe Nkosi