The Department of Health (DoH) is looking into claims that a lady, who was allegedly ruled dead, awoke in a freezer in a Phoenix mortuary.
Constantia Junior Govender (52) was certified dead by doctors at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Phoenix, according to an item in the Phoenix Tabloid.
In an almost Lazarus-like story, she awoke in a freezer at the mortuary, according to the magazine.
Govender told the newspaper that she had passed out while driving to a friend’s house and awoke in the mortuary “feeling chilly, nude, and covered with a sheet from a corpse bed.”
Ntokozo, the spokesman for the KZN Department of Health, responded to the claims.
Our official records show that the patient in issue is a recognised out-patient who visits the facility on a regular basis to collect her prescription. Yet, no records at our facility, including casualty, reveal that she was ever admitted, demised, or referred to any of our mortuaries.
“We also contacted nearby mortuaries, including the Phoenix Medico-Legal Mortuary.” “From February to the present, no corpse has gone missing following admission to the Phoenix Medico-Legal Mortuary at any moment,” she stated.
The DA has issued a statement calling for an investigation into the event.
The DA KZN spokesman for health, Edwin Baptie, issued a statement calling for clarity.
“The inhabitants of this neighbourhood deserve a clear and decisive answer as well.”
According to Baptie, Govender’s instance is comparable to one that occurred some years ago.
Govender’s story bears remarkable similarities to another occurrence in 2016, in which a motorcycle accident sufferer was discovered alive in a mortuary fridge at the same hospital. Sadly, he died from his injuries few hours later.
The DA has asked MEC for Health Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu to hold the ANC administration accountable.
“KZN people need good healthcare,” Baptie stated.