Angry workers shut down mortuary
Families turned away when they come to fetch bodies of loved ones
Workers shut down the Fort Napier Medico Legal Mortuary in Pietermaritzburg on Monday and Tuesday, turning away families who had come to fetch the bodies of loved ones.
Workers have been on a go slow for two weeks, demanding a wage increase and better working conditions.
On Monday workers barricaded the road, blocking the mortuary gates with mortuary vans. Families who had come to collect the bodies of their loved ones were turned away.
âWe are not allowing anyone to come in,â said one worker who did not want to be named. âNone of the bodies are getting out or insideâ, he said.
He said the workers had waited for MEC for Health Sibongiseni Dhlomo to respond to their demands on Friday but he had not done so.
âThey say the matter is being dealt with on a national level. We have decided to shut down the mortuary. The department has to respond,â he said.
Workersâ demands include the repair of air conditioners, better equipment, and back pay.
âThe conditions inside are shocking,â said another worker. âI carry the work stress to my home. Iâm always shouting at my children. Some of the corpses are in a bad condition. The mortuary is covered in an unbearable smell. Imagine facing that on a daily basis,â said the worker.
A family from Elandskop in Mafunze had come to collect the body of a loved one who died on Saturday. Sizeni Dlamini said she was told that she could not fetch her nephewâs body.
âI arrived at the mortuary at 7am. The workers told us no one is allowed to come in. They said bodies that are already inside wonât be released. Itâs clear that we wonât be able to bury my nephew on Thursday,â said Dlamini.
Zithulele Mbambo from Kwamangwenyane had come for the body of his daughter Buhle.
âWhen I came here I was told that I canât get her body. I have no words to describe how sad I am.â
âI was planning on burying her on Saturday,â said Mbambo.
Funeral parlour hearses were also turned away.
Another worker told GroundUp that no autopsies would be performed.
âThe department should pay back our money. We want better working conditions. We are continuing until they respond to our demands,â said the worker.
Department spokesperson Ncumisa Mafunda said the department was engaging with organised labour.
âA commitment was made to speedily resolve certain operational challenges such as supply of equipment and repair of air conditioners. Both parties will be meeting again in due course. The department wishes to appeal to staff to be patient and respect this process,â said Mafunda.
Provincial secretary for the National Education, Health and Allied Workersâ Union Phakama Ndunakazi said the union fully supported the workers.
âWorkers are working under appalling conditions. The fridges and air conditioners are not working. Thereâs an unbearable smell in the mortuary. Fort Napier Medico Legal Mortuary has only one doctor. These workers end up doing all the work and yet they are not paid enough,â he said.
âThe union is sympathising with the families who have been affected but we cannot compromise the rights of the workers,â said Ndunakazi.
Support independent journalism
Donate using Payfast
Next: Asylum seekers can now apply for residence visas
Previous: Durban Metrorail commuter loses job after train delays
© 2018 GroundUp.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and GroundUp, and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.