IN September 2021, then-31-year-old Bongani Ngwendu was attacked by a vigilante group in a suspected xenophobic attack at an informal settlement in Pretoria, South Africa, where he was burnt to death in his shack. His charred remains were positively identified through DNA tests from samples supplied by his biological sister in the neighbouring country.
His remains were then taken to a local mortuary and his
family based in the neighbouring country started the process to repatriate the
body back to Mbembesi in Bubi District, Matabeleland North Province, for
burial.
When the family fetched his body for the long trip back
home, they relied on mortuary records to identify his remains since his body
was burnt beyond recognition and identification by viewing at that time was not
possible.
That was the beginning of the problem. The family was
handed the wrong body — that of a South African national who had died in an
inferno and had his body burnt beyond recognition but kept in the same
mortuary.
The Ngwendu family, unbeknown to them, ferried the body of
the South African and buried it at a community cemetery in Battlefields
Village, Ward 13, in Mbembesi at the end of September 2021.
Six months after the burial, the Ngwendu family was
notified by South African authorities that their relative’s corpse was still in
a mortuary in Pretoria and that they had, in fact, buried the wrong body
following a mix-up at the mortuary on the day.
More than two years later, Ngwendu’s body was finally
buried in Mbembesi last Friday at the same community cemetery where the remains
of the late South African national were interred by mistake.
Yesterday morning, the remains of the South African
national were exhumed to be taken back to the neighbouring country where they
will reburied in his country of birth.
A Chronicle news crew was at the scene of the exhumation
and the deceased’s uncle, Mr Andile Ngwendu, narrated how his nephew met his
untimely death at the hands of a vigilante group and his body burnt beyond
recognition.
“My nephew was killed in his home in Pretoria on 21
September 2021, by a group of men who accused him and other Zimbabweans in that
area of taking their jobs.
“They (vigilante group) tied the door of his shack with a
wire from outside, torched the house using petrol and he was burnt beyond
recognition,” he said.
“His body was identified through DNA samples supplied by
his older sister but somehow the mortuary gave the funeral parlour the wrong
body and we had no idea that we buried a South African here in Mbembesi until
we were notified by Mr Ngwenya (Nkosinathi) after he was contacted by South
African officials saying that he had ferried the wrong body to Zimbabwe.
“From March 2022, when the body mix-up was discovered, we
have been living with the full knowledge that our relative was still in a
mortuary in South Africa and that we had buried the wrong body,” narrated the
uncle.
He said according to their Xhosa tradition, a ritual called
umbuyiso is supposed to be performed a year after one is buried but as a
family, they could not go ahead with that ritual because the wrong body had
been buried at the community cemetery.
“We have waited since March 2022 to finally bury Bongani,
whom we laid to rest last Friday and today we are here to witness the
exhumation of the South African national, so that his remains are transported
back to his country for reburial,” said Mr Ngwendu.
“The process to bring back Bongani’s body has been long and
tiresome but as a family, we would like to thank everyone who played a part
since 2022 so that my nephew is finally laid to rest.” The late Mr Ngwendu is
survived by four young children.
According to Somdanga Funeral Parlour’s official, Mr
Nkosinathi Ngwenya, the mix-up of the two bodies could have happened as a
result of the almost identical tag numbers — GA768 and GA687 —of the charred
remains that were at the mortuary when Mr Ngwendu’s body was collected.
“The mix-up of the bodies happened at the mortuary and I
suspect that the mortuary employee made the mistake as a result of the tag
numbers that were on the bodies, which are almost identical,” he told
Chronicle.
“It’s been difficult trying to get Bongani’s body here but
the officials from the Embassy in South Africa, who are here today with us,
have been very helpful together with his relatives,” said Mr Ngwenya.
The exhumation was witnessed by officials from the
Zimbabwean Consulate in South Africa, who have been working with the Ngwendu
family since 2022 to bring Bongani’s body back to Mbembesi, the police, an
official from the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Government officials, as
well as a representative from the Civil Registry Department, and villagers.
“As the Zimbabwe Consulate in South Africa, our job is to
attend to the concerns of our fellow countrymen and countrywomen based in South
Africa and we have been seized with the Ngwendu family’s issue since March 2022
up to this point, when their relative was repatriated back home for burial and
the exhumation of the South African national, who will be taken back to his
country for re-burial,” said Mr Albort Nyathi.
He, however, emphasised the need for Zimbabweans living and
working in the neighbouring country to regularise their stay in South Africa
and to also acquire essential documents such as IDs and passports to smoothen
the repatriation process when one passes away while out of Zimbabwe.
“It’s important as villagers that you encourage your
children and grandchildren living and working in South Africa to come back home
and acquire IDs and passports, so that in the event of death, it’s easier to
repatriate their remains back to Zimbabwe for reburial,” said Mr Nyathi.
“Our offices are in Eastgate in Johannesburg and our doors
are always open for Zimbabweans living in South Africa who need any form of
assistance.”
Village head Mr Benjamin Swene said the grave where the
South African’s remains were exhumed will not be used again.
“It’s a taboo in our culture to bury two people in the same
grave, so that space will not be used as a grave again. As a community we are
happy that our son is back home and buried alongside his relatives,” said Mr
Swene.
A 71-year-old Bheka Kenge, said it was his first time
witnessing the exhumation of a body, adding that he was too scared to move
closer to the grave site where the undertakers were busy digging the grave to
retrieve the remains of the late South African.
“As an elder in the community, I’m here to offer support to
fellow villagers who are assisting with the exhumation process but I will not
get anywhere near the grave-site.
“In all my years in this world I have never witnessed a
body being exhumed, so I will keep my distance,” said Mr Kenge. Chronicle
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