Cape Town - The Western Cape Health Department has encouraged families to contact the forensic pathology services (FPS) if a relative or friend has been missing for an extended period, saying there were 358 unclaimed and unidentified bodies in several mortuaries across the province.
The department said that at the end of January, the FPS had 358 unidentified persons who were admitted for a period exceeding 30 days, within 16 facilities across the Western Cape.
This is as the Gauteng Department of Health has also called on families and relatives of missing persons to visit FPS mortuaries to identify their loved ones.
This is because there were 938 unclaimed and unidentified bodies across Gauteng’s 11 FPS mortuaries.
Western Cape Health and Wellness spokesperson, Byron la Hoe, said families were encouraged to register all births and to ensure that they have valid original identification documents.
Without these, identifications cannot proceed, he warned.
“After seven days of admission, if the deceased had not yet been identified, the FPS institutes a process to manage the identification process.
This includes the taking of fingerprints to confirm the identity via the SAPS Criminal Record Centre and/or the Department of Home Affairs.
“The SAPS play a pivotal role as they are responsible for the identification process.
“Should the remains not be visually identifiable, other scientific means are also explored such as DNA that is processed via the SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory,” he said.
Gauteng Health MEC, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, said it was of concern that the number of unclaimed and unidentified bodies was increasing by the day.
“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 not part of the unclaimed bodies.
“And if that is the case, they can give them a proper burial,” she said.
La Hoe said their FPS services were also impacted by load shedding.
“As is the case in all healthcare facilities in the Western Cape, the FPS services are also affected by load shedding.
“Fuel costs are a major concern due to having generators operational to ensure that FPS can continue with service delivery but also that our refrigeration is maintained.
“Power surges impact very negatively on our infrastructure as well,” he said.
Cape Times