Mortuary strike stops burials
Family want to take son’s body home
A family in Limpopo cannot bury their 24-year-old son because of a strike that has hit Gauteng mortuaries resulting in a postmortem backlog.
The family of Isaiah Maiwashe is among many families who have had to postpone the funerals of loved ones after forensic pathology workers embarked on a wage strike last week.
Maiwashe, who was working for a Johannesburg media company, died in a car crash last week Thursday. He lost control of his vehicle when he tried to avoid a truck tyre on the road. The car rolled repeatedly before bursting into flames.
Yesterday, his uncle Naledzani Netshikulwe said the family was left frustrated when they were told at Germiston mortuary that workers would not perform postmortems. The family had decided to hold a funeral on Sunday but they were forced to postpone the burial.
“It is horrible. Imagine postponing a funeral. It’s like postponing pain. Right now there are people sitting on a mattress back home in Thohoyandou.”
He said they had spoken to the health department and unions in the hope that the situation would be resolved.
Netshikulwe said things were going well for his nephew who was a local radio DJ and had just started a new job a month earlier.
Maiwashe’s father Frederick Maiwashe said they were heartbroken. “It really hurts. I don’t have words to express my pain,”
He said Maiwashe’s mother was shaken by the loss and the fact that she cannot bury her child. “We want to take his body home and get closure.”
DA shadowMEC for health Jack Bloom said Germiston mortuary was the worst affected, with 65 bodies piling up.
“It is very distressing for families to have to wait for the burial of their loved ones because of this illegal strike.”