Johannesburg - Acting public protector advocate Kholeka Gcaleka has ordered Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital CEO Dr Nkele Lesia to facilitate a process to exhume and repatriate the body of a deceased man who was given a pauper’s burial without proper procedure.
In her latest report on some of the public protector office’s investigations, Gcaleka found the hospital failed to notify the family of Nhlakanipho Sibusiso Goqo of his death and later gave him a pauper's funeral.
"The public protector has ordered, among other things, that the CEO of Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital facilitate the process of exhumation and reburial of the deceased in consultation with his family within 90 calendar days of the receipt of the public protector’s report on the matter," Gcaleka ruled.
According to reports, the family filed a complaint against the hospital and appointed a legal representative.
The investigation by the public protector found that the hospital’s protocol on the reporting of unknown deceased people was inadequate.
"The investigation found ... further that that the hospital had not complied with the official circular, which required that unknown deceased persons' names ought to be published in the local newspaper in an attempt to trace their families prior to resorting to the provision of a pauper’s funeral," the report said.
Goqo was admitted to the Soweto hospital on November 14, 2019, and died on November 23. He was then buried on February 4, 2020, by Homeward Bound Funeral Home.
The hospital reportedly failed to notify Goqo’s family of his death and subsequently failed to report his burial due to incomplete details regarding his residential address.
The Star