Nehawu: Durban in desperate need of new mortuary
Trade union Nehawu says bodies have been piling up at Phoenix Forensic Mortuary for a while.
The union's provincial spokesperson Ayanda Zulu says that workers are overwhelmed as they're having to carry out their duties in inhumane conditions while also facing serious health risks.
He says there is no storage space at the morgue anymore.
"The Department of Health in KwaZulu-Natal took a decision to close what used to be called Gale Street mortuary and now most of the communities around Chesterville, Mayville, and Durban central are now using Pheonix mortuary of the greater part of Durban. That had made the mortuary to have an influx."
Zulu says Phoenix mortuary's been inundated with cases since the July unrest, with the situation exacerbated by the April floods.
He says these events have led to dire consequences, with staff having no choice but to keep bodies - some in various stages of decomposition - on the floor.
"Top of the conditions that workers are subjected to even when you go to the mortuary the smell is very unpleasing on top of for years we have been calling upon the Department of Health to make sure that all the workers that are working in the mortuary are provided with all necessary psychosocial support because the work that they are doing is traumatizing,” Zulu says.
