Two KZN families sue for R25m after wrong body cremated
Two grieving KwaZulu-Natal families have sent letters of demand to the provincial Health Department and are claiming R25 million in damages after a "mix up" led to one of them cremating the wrong body.
Chunder-Sen Maharaj from Pietermaritzburg died in mid-July after contracting Covid-19.
His family says they conducted the funeral rituals without viewing the body because of the restrictions in place.
The body was cremated and the ashes were scattered at a local beach.
They were later told by Grey's Hospital, where Maharaj had been admitted, that they had been given the body of Keketso Mateke.
Maharaj's body was apparently still at the mortuary.
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Meanwhile, Mateke's family says he too died at Grey's Hospital and had planned to take him back to Lesotho for burial.
They were also not allowed to view his body even though he didn't die of Covid-19.
They later learnt his remains had been handed over to the wrong family.
Lawyer Theason Pillay, who's representing both families, says they've all been left traumatised.
“Just put yourselves in their shoes. We’ve all attended family funerals, can you imagine going through the entire process and only than realising that you’ve done it for the wrong person.
“They’re besides themselves in terms trying to determine what had gone wrong and what could have been done to avoid the complete debacle that happened to them.”
