Eastern Cape family buries wrong body after funeral parlour mix-up
This sounds like something straight out of a movie…
Burying a loved one is already a traumatic and emotional experience, so finding out you've buried the wrong body is nothing short of a nightmare.
Unfortunately, this was a reality for a family in Stutterheim in the Eastern Cape.
According to News24, the family received a phone call from a funeral parlour asking about the funeral plans for their mother. The only problem? They thought they had already buried their mother about 10 days earlier.
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Nonzwakazi Snowball, 79, died in Stutterheim Hospital on 29 August after a long illness.
On 13 September, her family laid her to rest during a burial service in Mgwali, complete with traditional ceremonies.
Ten days later, on Tuesday, 23 September, the family received a call from Travis Scholes, the owner of Scholes and Son Funeral Directors, asking about their plans for the burial of the elderly woman.
Shocked by this phone call, the family went to the funeral parlour and, after viewing the body of the deceased, confirmed that it was indeed their loved one — and that they had buried the wrong person.
Snowball had a funeral policy with Hewu Funeral Services, but her body was collected by Scholes and Son Funeral Directors at Stutterheim Hospital.
Hewu Funeral Services also collected the wrong body from the hospital.
News24 reported that both funeral services are located in Stutterheim.
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"We were shocked," said the deceased's daughter, Nomawethu Snowball, 50.
"I was in Cape Town when I received a call that Scholes was asking about my mother's burial date. I took the next available bus to Stutterheim and arrived on Wednesday morning. We identified the body and confirmed it was indeed my mother."
How the mix-up occurred is still unclear, but the Eastern Cape Department of Health said an investigation was under way.
"We are continuing with our investigation. What we find puzzling, though, is how the family could not identify their deceased family member throughout the processes of identifying a body at the mortuary and at home," said provincial health department spokesperson Siyanda Manana.
The 79-year-old's daughter confirmed that they viewed the body at home before the burial and that it looked like her mother’s body.
Travis Scholes said his company collected Snowball’s body after receiving a call from the hospital.
"I think this mix-up happened at the hospital. We received a call from the hospital and then dispatched our vehicle to collect the body.
"I called the family after realising the body had been with us for many weeks. I was also very shocked when the family arrived to identify the body. I am upset on behalf of the family, because they did not deserve to go through this."
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Speaking to News24, a representative of Hewu Funeral Services said they retrieved the body they first believed to be Snowball’s and returned it to the parlour.
"We received a call from the family that they had been informed the body of their loved one was kept at another funeral parlour. The deceased had a funeral policy with us. As to how the body ended up with another funeral parlour, we don't know," said the representative.
The other woman's body, believed to be from a village in Ndakana, Stutterheim, was returned to her family.
Nomawethu confirmed that her mother, Nonzwakazi Snowball, was finally laid to rest on Wednesday, 24 September.
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