Burial delay as death certificate awaited

THE LIFE insurance policies of a murdered Gugulethu mother have not been paid to her family, and her funeral has been delayed because a death certificate has not been issued yet.

Zukiswa Sinegu, 24, mother of a 10-month-old child, was brutally killed, allegedly by her boyfriend, on October 17.

Sinegu’s family say the delay in receiving postmortem results has meant the money from the insurance companies, which they’d hoped would cover burial costs, has not been forthcoming.

Her mother, Nokwenzeka, said not having a death certificate was delaying the funeral preparations.

“I was hoping that the funeral would be this weekend. It is cultural that we bury our loved ones within the first two weeks of their deaths,” she said. She said she had visited the Salt River mortuary and was told the medical practitioner responsible was not available.

“It is unacceptable we don’t have the death certificate by now,” she said, adding that funeral arrangements in the Eastern Cape had already been made.

Two weeks ago the prov- incial health department released a statement warning the public of delays in finalising post-mortems as its Forensic Pathology Services (FPS) were experiencing high caseloads.

Zimkhitha Mquteni, spokesperson for Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo, said she would contact the Salt River mortuary with regard to the case.

Earlier this week, Sinegu’s boyfriend, Uyanda Mdingi, made his second court appearance at the Athlone Magistrate’s Court on the murder charge.

Nokwenzeka said she last saw her daughter three days before she was found dead at her house in New Crossroads.

She tried calling Sinegu but there was no answer, and in the afternoon she decided to go to her house, but there was no answer.

Nokwenzeka, with the help of neighbours, forced her way into her daughter’s house and discovered her dead.

“It is painful to lose her in that manner,” she said.

Police spokesperson Frederick van Wyk confirmed that Mdingi’s bail application was postponed to November 20.

Outside court, members of the ANC Women’s League came in numbers to show solidarity with Sinegu’s family.