Ladysmith KZN: Funeral parlour blunder sees family burying wrong body
“I want to make it clear that I do not want to claim anything from the parlour, but I want that body removed from my home"
The Covid-19 regulation that forbids the viewing of a dead body by bereaved families has wreaked havoc with the lives of the Dlodlo family in the KwaShuzi area of Umhlumayo, as they ended up burying the wrong corpse at their homestead.
The body of a loved one was mistakenly swapped by the mortuary.
In an exclusive interview with family member Mr Bhekani Dlodlo, he said this is the first time they have ever had to deal with such an ordeal that has left them angry, terrified and confused as a family.
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“Phasekile Dlamlenze was my uncle’s wife. She fell ill and we took her to Ladysmith Regional Hospital, where she died; that was in June. Her body was transferred to the government mortuary, where I personally identified her. From there, she went to a local funeral parlour on June 25, but as she had died due to Covid-19, her body could not stay too long at the funeral parlour. When we took her from there, we were forbidden from seeing the body. The only thing we did at the parlour the day we went to fetch her was to perform all the traditional rituals; then we buried the body at our home in Umhlumayo, KwaShuzi area.”
Mr Dlodlo continued that in October, they received a call from one of the workers at the funeral parlour, asking them who they had buried, as Phasekile’s corpse was still at the funeral parlour. “That call left us puzzled, terrified and fearing the worst, as, in Zulu culture, we tread carefully when it comes to matters concerning our ancestors. After the call, I sent two members of the family to go to the funeral parlour and they came back with the news that we had indeed buried the wrong corpse in our family yard, which we want removed with immediate effect, as we are unsure what might happen if it continues being there.”
The family from Umhlumayo managed to get Phasekile’s body from the funeral parlour, and they buried it on Sunday, November 1. “I want to make it clear that I do not want to claim anything from the parlour, but I want that body removed from my home, as I am sure there is another family that has not found peace with their corpse being stuck at my home.”
The Ladysmith Gazette caught up with the family at the police station, where they were getting affidavits ready to plead with a magistrate to have the unknown body exhumed and returned to the funeral parlour so they could bury their deceased relative in peace.
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