Gauteng Department of Health MEC, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, has misled the people of Gauteng by promising to work with those seeking solutions to the terrible mortuary situations in Gauteng by acting in a manner that contradicts this pledge.
Replying to questions posed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) regarding forensic investigations and mortuary horror stories in the province, the MEC pleaded with me to come to her office and work with her for the good of our citizens. It was a plea I gladly agreed to. But she was clearly playing to the cameras.
On 18 September 2024, the MEC gave an address and hosted a select few privileged individuals invited to the Airport Gardens Boutique Hotel for a ‘public participation discussion and discourse’ on Forensic Medicine Performance Review and Planning.
The DA Gauteng Shadow MEC and I were both excluded from the event. According to my knowledge, no one from the Health Portfolio Committee was invited, which indicates that the MEC does not want to collaborate or be transparent.
It is our duty as public servants to put aside our political biases to serve the citizens of this once wonderful province. But under Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s guidance, it appears that playing to the gallery, making false promises on camera, and not doing what one promises is ‘the new normal’ for this government.
Inevitably, Gauteng’s poorest residents become unwitting victims. Nobody wants to assume responsibility for the proper identification and burial of indigent citizens. As a result, the number of bodies that remain unclaimed in state mortuaries for an extended period grows significantly every day.
The DA will continue to exert pressure on the MEC to make good on her promises of addressing this scourge. We will honour the lives of people whose unidentified remains lie in state mortuaries. They deserve the dignity of a funeral. Their families deserve to be reunited with their loved ones.
Under a DA government, the funeral and undertaking industries would have been adequately regulated to resolve the mistaken identity of bodies.
It cannot be stressed how critical it is for vulnerable and marginalised Gauteng residents to have a dignified life and death.