The devastated family of Malieka Davids, 33, say a backlog of more than 100 bodies at the Salt River Mortuary added to their grief as they were not able to bury her in the customary Islamic 24-hour period.
The mother of three was hit in the stomach by a stray bullet last Monday when two skollies opened fire in Gonubie Street. Her nine-year-old son, Sodick, was standing next to her during the shooting.
The mom died later that evening in hospital.
The Health Department indicated that the backlog was due to a recent spike in murders in Cape Town - 56% of the caseload increase being gunshot victims.
Staff shortages, delays with criminal investigations, and pathologists who have to testify in court, are adding to the dire situation.
JANAAZAH: Malieka Davids, 33
The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) raised concerns following reports from the community that bodies are not being swiftly released from mortuaries in time for the customary 24-hour burial procedure in Islam.
By late yesterday afternoon, health officials were still locked in a meeting with the MJC to try and resolve the matter.
Both parties said that they would be releasing statements today.
On Friday, relatives, including those of Malieka, and Muslim undertakers protested outside the Salt River morgue.
Malieka’s mother-in-law, Fazlin Davids, says they demanded that her body be released.
“We were told there are five Muslim bodies. They would not let us in so we called the guy outside and told them there was going to be a stampede. I told him I want answers and I am not leaving until we get answers. Then eventually he checked on the computer and told us we can get the body on Monday,” she says.
EVENTUALLY: Malieka’s janaazah took place in Manenberg on Monday afternoon after body was released
Malieka’s janaazah was finally held yesterday afternoon.
Emergency Medical and Forensic Pathology Services spokesperson Robert Daniels said pathology is a scarce skill and the department had already advertised four contract positions.
“The challenges our facilities are experiencing are not just related to the gun-related cases. Our pathologists are called to testify at court in cases in the province and their workload cannot be done by another pathologist,” he told the Cape Times.
“Only specialised persons can conduct a post-mortem and provide those findings in court, and rushing the process would be detrimental.”
He adds there were instances of fraud reported where people tried to speed up post-mortems by lying about the deceased’s faith.
Health Department Spokesperson, Mark van der Heever, adds in recent months a total of 10 Forensic Pathology officers were appointed as well as an extra medical officer.