{"id":53443,"date":"2023-09-10T21:14:48","date_gmt":"2023-09-10T21:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/4-045-unclaimed-bodies-in-state-mortuaries-says-phaala"},"modified":"2023-09-10T23:01:43","modified_gmt":"2023-09-10T23:01:43","slug":"4-045-unclaimed-bodies-in-state-mortuaries-says-phaala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/4-045-unclaimed-bodies-in-state-mortuaries-says-phaala","title":{"rendered":"4 045 unclaimed bodies in state mortuaries, says Phaala"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Health Minister Joe Phaahla has revealed that there were more than 4000 unclaimed bodies at state mortuaries across the country as at the end of August.<\/p>\n

The number has increased from the 1 777 recorded at the end of June.<\/p>\n

\u201cNationally there are a total of 4 045 unclaimed bodies at the forensic pathology mortuaries,\u201d Phaahla said.<\/p>\n

He was responding to parliamentary questions from Freedom Front Plus MP Philip van Staden.<\/p>\n

Phaahla said KwaZulu-Natal has the highest number of unclaimed bodies at 1 509, followed by Gauteng with 1049 and Limpopo with 350.<\/p>\n

The Western Cape has recorded 350 unclaimed bodies, Eastern Cape 315, North West 251, Free State 108, Mpumalanga 68 and Northern Cape 42.<\/p>\n

Phaahla said out of the 4045 unclaimed bodies, 462 were ready for burial in the various provinces.<\/p>\n

In the Eastern Cape, there were 51 unclaimed bodies, Gauteng 13, KwaZulu-Natal 170, Limpopo 27, Mpumalanga 68, Northern Cape 42and North West 77.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe information received from the Western Cape Department of Health indicates that 14 of the total unclaimed bodies are awaiting a burial order,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Phaahla said the Health Department was currently awaiting reports on the DNA analysis from the SAPS forensic science laboratory related to samples presented by forensic pathology mortuaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe delayed reports form part of the reasons for the number of unclaimed bodies. My department is also in communication with Cooperative and Governance and Traditional Affairs to facilitate and fast-track pauper burials within the specified municipalities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In July, Phaahla said measures were taken to trace families of the deceased at both public hospitals and forensic pathology mortuaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the mandate of the South African Police Service to manage all unidentified cases from both the public hospitals and forensic pathology service facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe SAPS has the competency of identification and tracing of families,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He had also indicated that his department collaborated with the SAPS and Department of Home Affairs for fingerprints, the Department of Social Development for tracing of families and local municipalities for paupers\u2019 burial where families were not successfully traced.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould the tracing not be successful, the deceased\u2019s DNA is extracted and sent to the SAPS forensic science laboratory for storage in the database for future reference.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is only at this stage that the Department of Health makes an application to the municipality for a pauper burial .”<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Health Minister Joe Phaahla has revealed that there were more than 4000 unclaimed bodies at state mortuaries across the country as at the end of August. The number has increased from the 1 777 recorded at the end of June. \u201cNationally there are a total of 4 045 unclaimed bodies at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":53442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12,377],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-53443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-to-homepage","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\n4 045 unclaimed bodies in state mortuaries, says Phaala - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Health Minister Joe Phaahla has revealed that there were more than 4000 unclaimed bodies at state mortuaries across the ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/4-045-unclaimed-bodies-in-state-mortuaries-says-phaala\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"4 045 unclaimed bodies in state mortuaries, says Phaala\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Health Minister Joe Phaahla has revealed that there were more than 4000 unclaimed bodies at state mortuaries across the ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/4-045-unclaimed-bodies-in-state-mortuaries-says-phaala\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-10T21:14:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-10T23:01:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/09\/sm_1694370305.568003.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/4-045-unclaimed-bodies-in-state-mortuaries-says-phaala#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/4-045-unclaimed-bodies-in-state-mortuaries-says-phaala\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"4 045 unclaimed bodies in state mortuaries, says Phaala\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-10T21:14:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-10T23:01:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/4-045-unclaimed-bodies-in-state-mortuaries-says-phaala\"},\"wordCount\":389,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/4-045-unclaimed-bodies-in-state-mortuaries-says-phaala#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/09\/sm_1694370305.568003.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"to-homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/4-045-unclaimed-bodies-in-state-mortuaries-says-phaala#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/4-045-unclaimed-bodies-in-state-mortuaries-says-phaala\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/4-045-unclaimed-bodies-in-state-mortuaries-says-phaala\",\"name\":\"4 045 unclaimed bodies in state mortuaries, says Phaala - 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