Missing persons: only 30 days to claim bodies of loved ones at South African mortuaries

SA – Mortuaries are buckling under the number of unclaimed and unidentified bodies. Mortuaries also face persistent loadshedding, which hampers their efforts in looking after lost loved ones.

If unclaimed, they provide the deceased with a pauper’s burial—but only 30 days after announcing their intention.           

This is an ever-increasing and national problem. Many less fortunate people are unaware of this growing problem and might have missing family members who they cannot find. Hospitals are also one of your first go-to places when searching for a missing person.

To identify an unclaimed body, the following is required: 

• Family members should have their ID-document with them when claiming a body.
• They should also have the ID of the deceased, if possible, or a birth certificate in the case of a child. 
• If the deceased is a foreign national, a passport, asylum seeker certificate, or a letter from the country of origin confirming who the deceased is and to whom the remains should be handed over, is needed. 

Seven days after a deceased is not identified or claimed: 

Fingerprints are sent to the SAPS Criminal Record Centre for identification. These are also sent to the Department of Home Affairs to match their records.

If this process is successful and the body can be identified, a SAPS police officer will visit the deceased family for final release and burial or cremation.

Unidentifiable bodies:  

If the body cannot be identified owing to burns or an accident, DNA samples of the missing person or a blood relative (parent, sibling, or child) will be required.

Family members should also take any and all proof that they might have, to identify their loved ones, for example, a photo showing a particular marking/ scar/ tattoo.

The SAPS Missing Person’s case number and the details of the investigating officer should also be taken when aiming to claim an unidentified body.

‌If the body is still unidentified 30 days after exhausting all means of identification, including fingerprints, pauper burial processes are used for the final burial of the deceased.

Mike Bolhuis Specialist Investigators into Serious Violent and Serious Economic Crimes, press release extracts, 3 March 2022

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