Concern over FS mortuary operations being halted

Workers union Nehawu in the Free State says it is not impressed by the temporary closure of Department of Health mortuary in Bloemfontein. This is not the first time operations are halted; in 2024 the mortuary was closed after it received a prohibition order from the Department of Labour and Employment. Nehawu provincial secretary Khauhelo Mnqibisa say the government mortuary received a prohibition order last week for non-compliance of occupational health and safety issues.

Mnqibisa says this is because ventilation machines are not working. "And that machine is not operating, so in essence the lives of our members or the employees is at risk. Precisely because in a dissection area of dissection hall there is no ventilation at all.

But further to that there is a lack of hot water in a very same dissection area, such that when the employees are done with the corpse, they are able to obviously wash themselves and ensure that there's hygiene processes that unfold. So, it is from that account within which we found ourselves in today. What is worse that the corpse is not dissected here in this hall but they are taken to Botshabelo.

The Free State Department of Health says it is doing everything in its power to comply with safety regulations. The temporary closure has forced the department to redirected autopsy services to the Botshabelo Mortuary. Provincial Health Department spokesperson Mondli Mvambi says they are hopeful the ventilation system will be repaired and operational once the necessary spare parts arrive.

"If all goes well, by the end of the week we should have a formal site as the department with an evaluation report that says we are on course, we have done what we are supposed to do which is contained in the prohibition notice. We then invite the Department of Employment and Labour to come and prove to them that what has led to the prohibition notice is done. When it's done, then we are good to go, they can give us the go ahead to operate from here. .