Staff Reporter.
The Gauteng department of health has urged those with missing family members to come forward as growing number of unclaimed bodies lie in the province’s mortuaries.
There are at least 938 unidentified bodies in Gauteng mortuaries.
On Monday, the MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko called on families who are missing loved ones to visit mortuaries to see if their relatives are there.
“There are families who have been looking for their loved ones, not knowing where they are. We encourage them to visit FPS mortuaries to check if their loved ones are part of the unclaimed bodies, and if that is the case, they can give them a proper burial,” she said.
People who wish to identify their loved ones must bring their IDs, birth certificates, or legal documentation if they are foreign nationals.
The department said it published the names of missing people on social media and other public platforms to reach their families.
The department said that if no one identified the bodies within seven days, the deceased’s fingerprints would be sent to the SA Police Service for identification by the Criminal Record Centre and to the Department of Home Affairs to see if their relatives could be identified.
MEDIA STATEMENT || 938 UNCLAIMED AND UNIDENTIFIED BODIES AT GAUTENG MORTUARIES pic.twitter.com/zMCQOeDGjz
— Gauteng Health (@GautengHealth) February 27, 2023
If their families are found, the authorities will contact them for burial arrangements. However, if the bodies remain unidentified after 30 days the state would bury them.