In September 2021, Bongani Ngwendo, then 31, was attacked by a vigilante group in a suspected xenophobic attack in an informal settlement in Pretoria, South Africa, and burned to death in his hut. His charred remains were positively identified through DNA tests from samples provided by his biological sister in the neighboring country.
His remains were then transferred to a local morgue and his family based in the neighboring country began the process of returning the body to Mbembisi in Bubi District of Matabeleland North Province for burial.
When the family brought his body on the long journey home, they relied on morgue records to identify his remains as his body had been burned beyond recognition and could not have been identified by viewing at the time.
And that was the beginning of the problem. The wrong body was given to the family, that of a South African citizen who died in an inferno and was burned beyond recognition but kept in the same morgue.
The Ngwendo family, without her knowledge, removed the South African’s body and buried it in a community cemetery at Battlefields Village, Ward 13, in Mbembisi at the end of September 2021.
Six months after the burial, South African authorities informed Ngwendo’s family that their relative’s body was still at a morgue in Pretoria, and that they had in fact buried the wrong body after a mix-up at the morgue that day.
After more than two years, Ngwendo’s body was finally buried in Mbembisi last Friday in the same community cemetery where the remains of the late South African national were mistakenly buried.
Yesterday morning, the remains of the South African citizen were exhumed to be returned to the neighboring country, where they will be reburied in the country of his birth.
A Chronicle news crew was at the site of the exhumation and the uncle of the deceased, Mr. Andile Ngwendo, narrated how his nephew met his untimely death at the hands of a group of vigilantes and his body was burned beyond recognition.
“My nephew was killed in his home in Pretoria on September 21, 2021, by a group of men who accused him and other Zimbabweans in that area of taking their jobs.
He added: “They (the civil group) tied the door of his hut with a wire from the outside, and set the house on fire using gasoline, and it burned beyond recognition.”
“His body was identified through DNA samples provided by his elder sister but somehow the morgue gave the funeral parlor the wrong body and we had no idea that we had buried a South African here in Mpembisi until Mr Ngwenya (Nkosinathi) informed us afterwards.” South African officials contacted him saying he had transported the wrong body to Zimbabwe.
The uncle narrated: “Since March 2022, when the mixing of bodies was discovered, we have been living with the full knowledge that our relative was still in a morgue in South Africa and that we had buried the wrong body.”
He said that according to their Xhosa tradition, a ritual called umbuyiso is supposed to be performed a year after a person is buried, but as a family, they were unable to go ahead with this ritual because the wrong body was buried in the community cemetery.
“We have been waiting since March 2022 to finally bury Bongani, whom we buried last Friday, and today we are here to witness the exhumation of the remains of the South African citizen, so that his remains can be transported to his country for reburial,” Al-Sayed said. Ngwendo.
“It has been a long and stressful process to return Bongani’s body, but as a family, we would like to thank everyone who has played a part since 2022 so that my nephew can finally be laid to rest.” The late Mr. Ngwendo left behind four young children.
According to Somdanga Funeral Parlour’s official, Mr Nkosinathi Ngwenya, the confusion between the two bodies could have occurred as a result of the almost identical tag numbers – GA768 and GA687 – of the charred remains that were in the morgue when Mr Ngwendu’s body was transported. collected.
He told the Chronicle: “There was a mix-up of bodies in the morgue, and I suspect that the morgue employee made a mistake due to the tag numbers on the bodies, which were almost identical.”
“It has been difficult trying to bring Bongani’s body here, but officials from the South African Embassy, who are with us here today, have been very cooperative with his relatives,” Mr Ngwenya said.
The exhumation was witnessed by officials from the Zimbabwean Consulate in South Africa, who have been working with the Ngwendo family since 2022 to return Bongani’s body to Mbimbisi, police, an official from the Ministry of Health and Child Care, government officials, as well as a representative of the Civil Registry Department and the village people.
“As the Zimbabwean Consulate in South Africa, it is our job to attend to the concerns of our male and female citizens residing in South Africa, and we have been addressing the Ngwendo family’s case from March 2022 until this moment, when their relative was repatriated.” “He returned to his home country for burial and exhumation of the body of the South African national, who will be returned to his country for reburial,” Mr Allport Nyathi said.
However, he stressed the need for Zimbabweans living and working in the neighboring country to regularize their stay in South Africa as well as obtain essential documents such as identity cards and passports to facilitate the repatriation process when a person dies while outside Zimbabwe.
“It is important as villagers that you encourage your children and grandchildren who live and work in South Africa to return home and obtain identity cards and passports, so that in the event of death it will be easier for their remains to be returned to Zimbabwe for reburial,” he said. Mr. Niyati.
“Our offices are located in Eastgate, Johannesburg and our doors are always open to Zimbabweans living in South Africa who require any form of assistance.”
The village head, Benjamin Swain, said that the grave from which the remains of the South African citizen were exhumed will not be used again.
“It is taboo in our culture to bury two people in the same grave, so that the space is not used as a grave again. We as a community are happy to have our son back home and buried alongside his relatives,” Mr Swain said.
Bhika Kenji, 71, said it was the first time he had witnessed an exhumation, adding that he was too afraid to approach the grave site as undertakers were busy digging the grave to retrieve the remains of the deceased. South Africa.
“As an elder in the community, I am here to provide support to my fellow villagers who are helping with the exhumation process but I will not go near the grave site.
“In all the years I’ve been in this world, I’ve never seen a body being exhumed, so I’ll keep my distance,” Kenji said. Chronicle
