FARMWORKER’S BODY LEFT TO ROT AT HOME

WHEN Guni Myeni left his home 40 years ago to work on a sugarcane farm in Hluhluwe, KwaZulu-Natal, his family thought he would one day come back with lots of money.

But he died a pauper and his helpless nephews do not have money for his burial.

Myeni’s body is decaying at his home in eWela village, KwaNongoma in northern KwaZuluNatal, as his unemployed relatives are in financial difficulty.

The 62-year-old, who allegedly died last Wednesday, was brought back by the farmer he worked for on Sunday after spending four days at the mortuary while the farmer looked for the family.

According to the nephews, the farm owner didn’t even give an explanation for their uncle’s death, only identifying himself as the employer and leaving the body with them.

Myeni, who didn’t even come home for his parents’ funerals, had worked on the farm for more than 40 years, but he returned with nothing but the clothes on his body.

One of his nephews, Shintsha Myeni, told Sowetan his uncle’s body was decaying in their home because they didn’t have money to bury him.

He said they survived on parttime jobs.

“He had spent almost his entire life working on the sugarcane farm but he came back with nothing.

“We believe that his employer should have given us some money for the funeral,” Shintsha said.

He asked for Good Samaritans to help them with the money for their uncle’s burial.

He said they had tried local business people but nobody showed an interest.

“It is a scary thing to live with a dead person for days. The worst thing [is that] the body is decaying and there is a nasty smell around the yard,” another nephew, Bheki, said.

Nongoma municipality mayor Bhekumthetho Mavundla said the municipality was not aware of the situation, but assured the newspaper he would give it his full attention.

“We are really shocked by the news. We are going to visit the family and see where we can assist as a municipality.”