The repatriation of the wrong body from Cape Town to Harare by F.Allard & Sons undertakers cost the Gono family a whopping R27 442.
Gono died on December 27, but instead of his body being taken to Harare for burial, the undertaker took the wrong corpse, believed to be that of a South African.
The Gono family, who struggled to get a financial donation from a local Good Samaritan, Merle Peters, say they cannot afford to dig deep into their empty pockets to have the correct body repatriated.
Making matters worse, Gonos body has disappeared.
The top priority at this moment is to find out where exactly the correct body is, and then take action later. The Gono family needs to be compensated. The family is devastated, said Peters.
Cape Town-based pressure group, People Against Suffering Suppression Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP) are upset too.
Spokesperson Colleen Haley said: It appears that a huge mistake on the part of the undertakers or the mortuary has resulted in the sending of an incorrect and unknown body instead of Gonos. The wrong body, which was transported to Zimbabwe, arrived in Harare on January 13. Gonos brother paid US$80, as well as a cow valued at some US$250, to transport the body from Harare to his rural home.
After hearing from Gono that the wrong body had been sent to Zimbabwe, Peters communicated with the undertakers, who insisted that they had sent the correct one.
No official comment could be obtained from the funeral parlour by the time of going to press.
Post published in: News