A SHOCKING 200-body backlog is said to be the result of an illegal strike by the forensic assistants in the ten Gauteng state mortuaries.
The now three-week-long strike has resulted in autopsies taking more than seven days instead of a day, which has caused great distress to bereaved families, says the DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC, Jack Bloom.
Bloom said the strike, which continued despite concessions made to meet the demands of workers, was ongoing and delayed family funerals.
“Pathologists are doing the best they can with 10 military medics and eight volunteers from the National Association of Funeral Directors assisting them, but the backlog is still about 200 bodies. Unions representing the workers are being unreasonable and cruel in continuing this illegal strike in an essential service,” he said.
Bloom claimed the Gauteng Health MEC, Gwen Ramokgopa, had mishandled the strike from the start by not getting a court order against it.
“She is bumbling from one crisis to another, including the disgraceful non-payment of subsidies to 159 NGOs looking after mental health and other patients. I welcome the intervention by Premier David Makhura to promise payments to mental health NGOs by the end of this week.
I agree with his statement that the health department needs a big shake-up and I hope that the cabinet committee he has set up to assist Health MEC Ramokgopa is successful. They must get it right this time as many previous efforts to ‘turn around’ the department have failed. Makhura’s intervention is urgently needed to resolve the mortuary strike as well,” he said.
Ramokgopa’s department replied to an enquiry and confirmed what Bloom said namely that military officials were deployed to facilities since the strike action known as the ‘work-to-rule’.
“As part of contingency plans to contain the impact of the work-to-rule by the Gauteng Department of Health Forensic Pathology Officers (FPOs), the South African Military Health Services has been roped in to assist with autopsies starting on Wednesday, 14 June 2017.”
The health department added that Ramokgopa met with the families last week Friday at the Diepkloof centre, where FPOs had held staff hostage. Five autopsies were conducted and the bodies were released to the families.
They said Ramokgopa interacted with the families and reassured them with plans of action to resolve issues.
“She also shared with them the contingency plans to ensure they are not further inconvenienced so they can bury their loved ones.”
MEC Ramokgopa said, “The Gauteng Department of Health main interest in this matter is to ensure that reasonable concerns of all staff are addressed and that services for the public resume as soon as possible.”
The department elaborated that Ramokgopa, while engaging with the FPOs, directed their concerns in the best interest of the bereaved families, the public and the law. She (Ramokgopa) added that the Department would do everything in its power to ensure bereaved families were assisted and supported, while engagements with FPOs continued.
“Forensic Pathologists are available to perform autopsies, but they need assistance from FPOs with evisceration and dissections. The work-to-rule action has not only inconvenienced families who had travelled from far and wide to collect bodies of their loved ones for burials, but will also affect the justice system, which refers certain cases to pathology services for further examinations,” the department said.
An enquiry was also sent to the Premier’s office. While awaiting a response, the Courier was notified that the Premier’s office was on fire on Friday morning which delayed a reply process further.
The robust statement by Bloom comes after a Rosettenville family is in their third week of waiting for the body of their loved one to be released for burial.
Francois Albertus Toerien (41) died in hospital on 12 June after he went to question the men responsible for assaulting his brother, Cory Cloete, the day before. He was found bleeding and with a fatal stab wound to the head, on a pavement on June 11, after having been severely beaten.
His sister Catherine van Randen said Toerien died at the Baragwanath Hospital on Monday morning around 4am.
She said Toerien would have a state burial, yet the family still had no body.
“We were told the government morgue was waiting for undertakers. We [family] were supposed to be fetched yesterday to identify his body but still we wait.
“My brother is still in the state morgue,” she said.
The RECORD will keep our readers updated.
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