Families confront funeral parlour over bodies mix-up

TWO Bulawayo families were at loggerheads with Kingdom Blue Funeral Services after a body mix-up, which resulted in one family burying the wrong corpse.

The families demanded clarity on how the funeral parlour mixed up the bodies of their loved ones, one of whom was allegedly murdered, while the other reportedly committed suicide.

The stand-off brought the company’s business to a standstill last Sunday after some family members from the Dube family locked the gate to the funeral parlour’s premises in the Kelvin industrial area.

“We are deeply pained by this incident. What we don’t understand is how one family decided to bury the wrong body after identifying that it was not theirs.

“This all could have been avoided if the family insisted that the body that had been delivered was not that of their loved one,” said a member of the Dube family.

Mr Busani Dube, father to one of the deceased, Mayibongwe, said he had come to terms with the murder of his child but was now hurting from the body mix-up.

“It hurts to lose a child under such circumstances. The mix-up made things worse as I wanted to find closure in knowing where my son is buried,” said Mr Dube.

The stand-off, however, was eventually resolved in the afternoon after the parlour management engaged both parties and clarified the issue.

The company officials explained that the mix-up occurred after the Tsingidzi family insisted that the body of Ashley Tsingidzi be transported in the same vehicle as that carrying Mayibongwe Dube.
Mr Mbongiseni Ncube addressed the families just after lunch, leading to the conclusion of the dispute.

“We admit that there was a mix-up but how it happened may have been caused by the misidentification of bodies. From what I gather, the Tsingidzi family insisted the body of Ashley be transported in the same hearse as the one transporting Mayibongwe from the hospital mortuary,” he said.

“This is against procedures and we too did not know that this is what had taken place. So, in offloading the bodies I suspect that the driver may have mixed up the bodies. It is unfortunate that I was not aware of the issue until I have had to question the staff,” said Mr Ncube.

In an effort to rectify the mix-up, he said he had to drive to Nyanga to deliver the body of Ashley to the Tsingidzi family after they had taken and buried Mayibongwe Dube’s body.

The families reached a consensus with the parlour and agreed on terms of compensation and the burial of their loved ones.

“We have already assisted the Tsingidzi family in the burial of their loved one and now we need to focus on the burial of Mayibongwe. We had a closed-door meeting with the Dube family where we agreed on terms and we will honour our word,” said Mr Ncube.