Cape Town - There is a growing crisis of unclaimed bodies across South Africa with over 3000 unidentified bodies nationwide and experts are now urgently calling for improved systems to connect missing persons with unidentified bodies, potentially solving cold cases and bringing closure to families.
In Cape Town, the Western Cape Health Department and Wellness Forensic Pathology said 279 pauper burials have been conducted this year alone, with a total of 289 in the province and 3186 nationally.
Authorities are sounding the alarm as families are left without answers regarding their missing loved ones. In Gauteng, Charlotte Maxeke Hospital recently made a public notice, urging families to visit the mortuary to identify seven individuals within 21 days. If they fail to do so, the deceased will be buried as paupers.
Byron la Hoe of the Western Cape Health Department and Wellness Forensic Pathology Service stated that they strategically select bodies for pauper burials.
“Currently, there are 289 unidentified individuals at our Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness Forensic Pathology Service (FPS) facilities. Between January and September 2024, 279 pauper burials were facilitated,” he explained.
National Health spokesperson, Foster Mohale, highlighted that provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape are struggling to alleviate the backlog, with over 3 000 unclaimed bodies in the country. He detailed that there is a waiting period of 30 days before a person is given a pauper burial. Various methods, including DNA, blood samples, and fingerprints, are utilised for identity verification.
“The total number of unclaimed bodies as of August 2024 is 3186, with KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape being the most affected provinces,” he said.
“According to regulations 341, pauper burials can be conducted after 30 days if the body remains unidentified. The Department of Health urges all families and individuals with missing loved ones or suspected deceased relatives to visit the nearest Forensic Pathology Service facilities, also known as government mortuaries, to check if they are among the thousands of unclaimed bodies. This may help families find closure and afford their loved ones a proper burial.”
Mohale explained that all pauper burials are documented and archived, including photographs, fingerprints, and blood or tissue samples, in case family members come forward later.
“We urge families to bring along copies of their IDs as well as a copy of the deceased person’s documents,” he added.
This week, Weekend Argus spoke with a family whose brother had been missing for nearly 15 years, only to learn he had been given a pauper burial in 2010.
Deon Van Der Merwe, originally from the Western Cape, had relocated to Gauteng Province and received treatment at various psychiatric facilities due to his diagnosis of schizophrenia.
He was admitted to Waverley Care Centre in Germiston in February 2007 and was discharged as a deceased person on December 19, 2009, ultimately buried as a pauper in 2010.
Just last month, Van Der Merwe’s distraught sister, Terrellyn Latham, discovered he had been given a pauper’s burial and managed to visit his grave at Rondebult Cemetery, also known as Cambrian Cemetery in Boksburg. Latham sought assistance from the Pink Ladies after reporting her brother missing and was shocked to find out that he shared a grave with another individual.
“My brother suffered from mental health issues and was a chronic schizophrenic and manic depressive,” she said.
“He was in and out of psychiatric facilities such as Valkenberg, and as the years went on, his condition worsened, leading to hallucinations. My older brother always looked for him and took care of him, so it wasn’t as if he didn’t have a family who cared. Around 2007, we lost track of him and began searching again.”
Life continued for Latham and her family, but they never stopped looking for Deon.
“A year ago, I decided to look for him again, enlisting the help of the Pink Ladies, who managed to find a recent photograph of him. This year we learnt that he had died in 2009 and was buried as a pauper in 2010.
“Last month, I received an official letter confirming his status, and I visited the grave, which is in a bad state. There are no markings, and we are not allowed to place anything on the grave. The fact that my brother was ill and had family details raises questions about why he was buried without us being found.”
In another case, Track n Trace missing persons organisation’s Chaz Thomas is assisting the family of a 36-year-old former police officer who vanished in 2021. Documentation revealed that a formal inquest was conducted this year following a hit-and-run in Klapmuts in 2021.
“The family was only informed this year that their loved one had died and that she was buried as a pauper,” she said.
“This person was reported missing, yet it took the State more than a year to conduct fingerprint tracing and recognition to find a relative’s contact details. The family had last seen her in 2020 at a funeral service. They (police and forensics) are not doing their work properly because we found out this woman died three years ago, and we had visited all the morgues only to be told she was not there. Given that she was a former police officer, how could they not find her fingerprints?”
La Hoe emphasised the importance of maintaining evidence linking the body for future identification.
“To support future identifications and provide a sense of closure for families, we maintain a facial photo album and positive DNA profiles of all unidentified persons. We also work closely with Western Cape municipalities to ensure that deceased individuals are buried rather than cremated, allowing for the possibility of family members connecting with their loved ones if they are identified later.”
Jacqui Thomas, co-founder and director of the Pink Ladies, echoed the need for collaboration with government and police departments.
“We are currently working on several projects aimed at alleviating the exact problem described. We are frequently approached by families seeking relatives who have been missing for more than five, ten, and even up to 20 years, and we do our best to educate the public on the required processes.”
Bianca Van Aswegen, Missing Children SA National Coordinator and criminologist, pointed to the lack of communication between the police and those working in the field of missing persons, which allows the backlog to continue.
“There have been various missing persons cases where a person has been found deceased and lying unidentified in a mortuary or even buried as a pauper, only discovered much later,” she added.
“This raises the question of how this can happen if there is a missing person’s case opened with SAPS, yet we still see cases of unidentified and pauper burials taking place. Even with registered missing persons cases with SAPS, we still have the problem of individuals ending up in mortuaries unidentified and unclaimed.”
“There are many cold cases that could potentially be solved if there was a system in place between departments and organisations like MSCA that assist with all missing persons cases in South Africa to help mortuaries directly with unidentified bodies or those that might have already been pauper buried. Facial reconstruction is also an invaluable tool for unidentified persons, especially those who are badly decomposed or otherwise have unrecognisable features.”
Private investigator Leon Nel of Cold Cases SA stressed the need for better administration and protocol to prevent bodies from becoming unidentified and unclaimed. He called for audits to be conducted in mortuaries.
“Identification of all bodies, as prescribed by law and in forensic manuals, is not adhered to. Simple tools like tape measurement, weights, and cameras are often non-existent.
“Proper identification would mean more workload in getting the files finalised, allowing families to dispute identification based on what they have on record—length, weight, photos, etc.”
“There must be regular audits by independent parties to ensure legal compliance and adherence to the manual in Forensic Pathology Services (Laboratories). Forensic labs are supposed to have scanners to detect metal-like objects, such as projectiles and fragments. Without these scanners, murder and the actual cause of death will not be determined, and physical evidence will never be recovered.”
As South Africa grapples with the growing crisis of unclaimed bodies, it becomes increasingly vital for families, authorities, and support organisations to work together to uncover the truth behind the unidentified deceased and find ways to bring closure to those left behind.
genevieve.serra@inl.co.za