Dealing with the death of a loved one can be difficult for any family.
This process was made more difficult for one family, last Tuesday, when an unknown number of hijackers made off with the mortuary van transporting their loved one to a private funeral home from the state mortuary.
The incident occurred outside the Germiston Home Affairs offices, at the corner of President and Odendaal streets, Germiston CBD, while the deceased’s son was inside with Gauteng Department of Health officials, completing paperwork needed for a death certificate.
The Germiston SAPS released a lookout for the vehicle after its theft.
The signal from the vehicle’s tracking device was later picked up in the Cleveland SAPS precinct and officers traced the signal to the Heriotdale dump site.
When officers arrived on scene the mortuary van was nowhere to be seen, but they did find the vehicle’s tracking device and the body that was being transported when the vehicle was stolen.
“It is believed the hijackers stopped at the Heriotdale dump site to dispose of both the body in the van and the tracking device fitted to the vehicle,” said Cleveland SAPS spokesman, Const Mpho Mashekane.
The GCN approached both the Germiston SAPS for comment.
“The Germiston police are currently investigating a case of theft of a motor vehicle,” explained WO André de Jager, spokesman for the Germiston SAPS.
“The vehicle that was stolen belonged to a private funeral home.
“The son of the deceased was taking the body from the state mortuary to the funeral home’s private mortuary when the incident took place.
“The body has since been brought back to the state mortuary.”
No arrests have been made to date.
