By Khanyisile Mbambo
The family of 17-year-old Nolusapho Dladla, who was swept away during the April floods, said they were left with no choice but block the entrance and picket outside the Phoenix Mortuary recently, demanding that the state release her body after a five-week long wait for DNA test results to prove that it is indeed their child.
Speaking to the Phoenix Tabloid, Delani Mhlongo said he wants the state to release his daughter’s body so that they could give her a dignified funeral and lay her to rest, giving the family closure. He said: “My daughter was sadly swept away during the devastating floods on 11 April and her lifeless body was found two weeks later, on April 27. After being informed, we came to identify her at the Phoenix Mortuary the following day. Her face had been badly decomposed, however, we could still identify her based on other body parts such as her feet, hands, nails and body shape.”
Mhlongo said the pathologist was not satisfied with the identification and requested for a DNA test. “The DNA samples were taken five weeks ago from Nolusapho’s sister and we were told that the results would be out in two weeks from Pretoria, however, it has been five weeks now and we still haven’t received any feedback. When I enquired with the Phoenix Mortuary, I was told that the head of the department was on leave and no information was given about my daughter’s results,” said Mhlongo.
Following the picket, where the family closed off the entrance at the mortuary last week, Mhlongo said they received information that the specimen that was taken from Nolusapho was not enough. “We were told that more samples needed to be taken for testing which is incompetence on their side because no one informed us about this until we went there demanding for answers,” said the grieving father.
Fed up of waiting, Mhlongo said the family has paid for a private laboratory to conduct the DNA test. “Once the results come back positive, we will then prepare to bury my daughter and give her a dignified send off. This is so painful and no parent should have to go through this. It was so traumatic for us when Nolusapho got washed away, we suffered for two weeks looking for her, now we are suffering again because they are refusing to release her body. I feel helpless not knowing when my daughter will be released back to us, all we want is for her body to be released so we can give her a proper funeral so that we can also start the process of healing from this difficult situation,” said Mhlongo.
Councillor Moulana Tariq Mohamed who responded to the call for help from the family said that DNA backlog is a massive miscarriage of justice. He said: “I can only imagine what the family is going through, having lost a loved one and the pain further exacerbated by the delay in processes which has prevented them from burying their daughter. It is totally unacceptable that no one has been communicating with the family regarding the deceased since April. Government has to look at ways to prevent such delays in DNA testing especially when disasters and tragedies happen. I am sure that government can bring the resources to Durban, we need to have a laboratory where samples are tested here instead of being sent all the way to Pretoria. We have airports in all regions, why can’t we have labs in all regions. This is something that needs to be addressed.”
KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane said they understood and are very sympathetic with the family’s pain. However, she said there are different processes when someone was declared dead by a doctor in hospital or when someone had died from a natural event like the floods.
“The Department of Health could not release bodies from their mortuaries without police signing them off. Police must open an inquest docket to determine the cause of death which had contributed to the delay of releasing bodies timeously. In stances where the bodies had badly decomposed, the police needed to take DNA samples for verification before releasing the body to the family. The issue is that police have one DNA laboratory in Pretoria and the waiting periods are very long,” said MEC Simelane.
