Watch: Families barricade Pietermaritzburg mortuary as staff refuse to work
Angry families barricaded Fort Napier Mortuary, demanding bodies be released after staff stopped working due to poor conditions.
Livid families of recently deceased loved ones have barricaded the entrance to Fort Napier Mortuary and Hospital, demanding the release of bodies after staff refused to work over poor working conditions.
According to The Witness, Kholeka Ndlela on Monday attempted to collect the body of her nephew, Mnelisi, who died on Sunday, planning to bury him tomorrow. The family was told to return to the mortuary on Tuesday.
“We made a phone call and were told that work is still being halted as they are waiting for the management,” she says.
“All we want is bodies to be released. We have been mourning for so long. There are rituals that we need to perform due to the way the child died. Now we can’t do anything,” Ndlela says angrily.
Sipho Ntuli says blocking the gates seemed to be the only way to get the government’s attention.
“We want this to be addressed. Seemingly, they don’t care. We want this process to be attended to,” he adds.
National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union regional secretary Mazwi Ngubane says the union had long raised concerns about working conditions with the Department of Health.
“During this heat, the condition is worse inside. Employees cannot continue to work under those conditions. They decided to stop working until they are provided air conditioners.
“We are concerned by the way the department is dragging its feet in terms of addressing this matter. These people are already in misery, and now this adds to their loss. The condition also exposes workers’ health to risk,” Ngubane explains.
The Department of Health is yet to comment.
Watch the video:
Livid family members have barricaded entrance to the Fort Napier Mortuary in Pietermaritzburg, demanding bodies of their loved to be released.#fortnapier #pmb #kzn #healthandsafety pic.twitter.com/07RBLPY2Tf
— The Witness (@WitnessKZN) March 6, 2025
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