THEY bought food and hired a tent and chairs for their son’s funeral service.
But when the 18-year-old’s family went to wash his body, they were shocked with what they found.
Young Mpho's penis had been cut off!
And this stopped Mpho Tjale’s funeral on Sunday, 20 February, as the family from Daveyton, Ekurhuleni, refused to take the disfigured body.
Family and neighbours also blocked funeral parlour workers from taking the tent, chairs and other items. They held them hostage and vowed they’d never allow the mortuary to take them until the owner paid back their R30 000.
My son’s body was collected from home with every body part intact, but some parts are now missing. Why is that?” asked Mpho’s mum, Portia, (39).
She said her son’s remains were collected by the funeral parlour on the day he died. She said as the first parlour didn’t have cold storage, they took the body to another. And that is where they discovered the 4-5 was mutilated.
The People’s Paper knows the names of both funeral parlours.
Portia said she was surprised when the funeral parlour, where the body was kept, insisted they come early on Saturday, 19 February.
“The same funeral parlour owner and his wife then even contacted me again to convince me not to come because I suspect they saw something was not right. My son deserves to be buried with dignity and not to be subjected to such disrespect,” she said.
Portia’s husband, Bellium, (48) said he wants justice for his son.
“My son suffered and the next thing he was disrespected. Mpho was epileptic and had autism,” he said.
If that wasn’t enough, they were then further traumatised when they reported the matter to the Daveyton police and were allegedly dismissed and told to bury their son.
Angry neighbours said what happened to the family was painful.
The Funeral Industry Reformed Association (Fira) said the family should open a case with the police.
“We have been vocal about this industry having an ombudsman. The lack of regulations has seen many consumers exploited,” said Fira’s executive chairman Johan Rousseau. He said both funeral parlours should be held responsible.
“The one aiding the other without cold storage is breaking the law because the law requires the funeral parlour to have mortuary facilities.”
The undertaker that collected the body said they didn’t tamper with it.
They said the matter is under investigation, while the undertaker where the body was kept said they don’t touch bodies that aren’t of their clients.
“The funeral parlour asked for storage and we supplied them,” they said.
Daveyton cops confirmed a violation of a corpse case has been opened and the matter is under investigation.
