Community helps family bury drown victim
Family was in financial dilemma over double burial
THE trauma of having buried the wrong body has come to end for a Richards Bay family after they laid their loved one to rest on Sunday, three weeks after his death.
Nondumiso Mlondo (15) who drowned at Five Mile Beach near Mzingazi on 5 January was identified three days later and his body was buried.
The family soon realised they made a mistake when they were called, a week later, to view another body fitting the description of their teenage relative.
Still grieving, the family had to start over with funeral arrangements again, this time, without any funds since they had already utilised the policy pay-out.
Thanks to the support and rallying around of Mzingazi Community Policing Forum chairperson Sharon Mdletshe, local businesses came on board to assist with all the burial costs.
20 JANUARY 2014
Bay family buries wrong body
A RICHARDS Bay family, still mourning the death of a loved one who drowned earlier this month, were dealt another blow on Friday when they realised they had identified and buried the wrong body.
The startling discovery was made by Mzingazi Community Policing Forum (CPF) Chairperson Sharon Mdletshe after she used information from an article in the Zululand Observer to solve the case of mistaken identity.
Mdletshe had responded to the scene at Five Mile Beach where Mandlazini resident Nondumiso Mlondo (15), drowned on 5 January.
She had interviewed the two cousins Mlondi had been swimming with and learnt all three had been wearing the same brand of green underwear.
A few days after the accident, a slightly decomposed body washed up at Nhlabane Beach and the family confirmed it was Mlondo and funeral was held last Sunday.
When Mdletshe read in the Zululand Observer that police were looking for help to identify the body of a young male found floating near the stricken coal carrier MV Smart, wearing green underwear, she was convinced the family had made a mistake. She immediately contacted the Investigating Officer.
‘I went to the Mlondo family and asked the boys to show me the green underwear so I could match it to the one found on the body.
‘As I walked into the mortuary carrying the underwear, an employee saw me and said the item looked similar to the one found on the recovered body.
‘Not only was the clothing item a match but the boy’s face was also clearly recognisable.’
‘It was emotional to watch the family having to go through the shock and trauma for a second time but I am glad they now have the right body,’ she said.
Meanwhile Richards Bay SAPS spokesperson Captain Debbie Ferreira said members of the Mlondo family had viewed the body and confirmed it was the teenager.
Double cost
A distraught Mrs S Mlondo, grandmother and guardian of the deceased said her biggest worry was to cover the costs of a second funeral. The insurance had been paid out and all the funds were used on the wrong body.
‘We will have to carry out the funeral arrangements again. There are cultural rituals that have to be conducted and livestock will have to be slaughtered during the process again,’ she said.
