Army called in as bodies pile up at mortuaries

Members of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) have been sent to Gauteng mortuaries to help with the backlog as the strike by assistant pathologists rages on.

Democratic Alliance spokesperson on health Jack Bloom welcomed the move, and added that at least 200 postmortems still had to be performed across the province.

“Some of the postmortems have to be performed on bodies that have been in the mortuaries for more than a week. I am concerned, however, that police have not been able to provide sufficient protection to doctors to enable them to perform the autopsies,” said Bloom

The two-week long strike by workers across mortuaries in Gauteng has delayed the release of postmortem results and burials as bodies remain stuck at the mortuaries.

The provincial department of health said talks with labour continued in a bid to end the crippling strike.

Forensic pathology assistants downed tools over salaries and working conditions. Angry protesters gathered outside the Diepkloof facility on Friday, demanding that the provincial health department accede to their demands. A subsequent meeting with Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa failed to end the impasse.

Bloom said some of the grieving families contemplated legal action against the provincial department.

“The department has also unreasonably refused families to employ private pathologists working with police supervision to do the autopsies, which are done in all cases of suspected unnatural death.

“This strike has caused incredible anguish to families of the deceased. This includes legal action that is being contemplated by Muslim families who are religiously required to bury the deceased on the day of death.”

He urged Premier David Makhura to intervene and resolve the strike.

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