Question to the Minister of Health - NW3082

11 October 2023 - NW3082

Smalle, Mr JF to ask the Minister of Health

(1)What is the (a) number of (i) mortuaries, (ii) pathologist who are allocated to each mortuary and (iii) bodies examined in each mortuary in each month and (b) current backlog of bodies to undergo postmortem; (2) where is each mortuary located; (3) whether there are regulations in place that give effect to the period for (a) postmortems and (b) temperature-controlled environment; if not, why not; if so, who regulates the conditions?

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Reply:

1. (a)(i) is indicated in Table 1 below as received from Provincial Departments of Health.

Table 1: (i)Number of Forensic Mortuaries including holding Facilities.

Province	Number
Eastern Cape	22
Free State	11
KwaZulu Natal	33
Gauteng	11
Limpopo	12
Mpumalanga	21
Northern Cape	11
Northwest	7
Western Cape	16
Total	145

(1)(a)(ii)(iii) and (b) is indicated Table 3 below as received from the provincial departments of Health.

Table 2(ii): Number of Forensic Pathologists per Province

Province	Number
Eastern Cape	2
Free State	7
KwaZulu Natal	2
Gauteng
Limpopo	7
Mpumalanga	2
Northern Cape	1
Northwest	2
Western Cape	16

Tables below indicate (ii) Number of medical officers(iii) Bodies examined, (b) Backlog per facility.

EASTERN CAPE

	Facility	(ii)Number of Medical officers including pathologists	(iii)Bodies examined for month of August 2023	(b) Backlog as of 31 August 2023
1	Adelaide		Holding Facility	Not applicable
2	Aliwal North	1	25	None
3	Bizana	1	45	None
4	Butterworth	2	70	None
5	Bhisho	1	80	None
6	Dutywa		Holding Facility	Not applicable
7	Gelvandale	2	45	None
8	Grahamstown	1	35	None
9	Graaff-Reinet	1	15	None
10	Joubertina		Holding Facility	None
11	Lusikisiki	1	45	None
12	Mdantsane	1	70	None
13	Mount Fletcher	1	45	None
14	Mount Frere	1	45	None
15	Mount Road	3	35	None
16	Molteno		Holding Facility	Not applicable
17	Mthatha	4	200	None
18	New Brighton	2	65	None
19	Port Alfred		Holding Facility	Not applicable
20	Queenstown	2	80	None
21	Uitenhage	0	40	None
22	Woodbrook	1	80	20

FREE STATE PROVINCE

No	Facility	(ii)Number of medical officers including pathologists	(iii)Bodies examined for the month of August 2023	(b) Backlog as of 31 August 2023
1	Bethlehem	1	25	None
2	Bloemfontein	7	95	None
3	Botshabelo	1	26	Not applicable
4	Ficksburg	0	Holding facility	Not applicable
5	Jagersfontein	0	Holding facility	Not applicable
6	Harrismith	0	Holding facility	Not applicable
7	Kroonstad	1	30	None
8	Phuthaditjhaba	1	50	None
9	Sasolburg	1	20	None
10	Smithfield	1	Holding facility	Not applicable
11	Welkom	2	55	None

GAUTENG PROVINCE

No	Facility	(ii)Number of medical officers including pathologist	(iii)Bodies examined for the month of August 2023	(b) Backlog as of 31 August 2023
1	Bronkhorspruit	01	29	None
2	Carletonville	02	46	None
3	Diepkloof	06	256	None
4	Ga-Rankuwa	08	121	None
5	Germiston	11	400	None
6	Heidelberg	01	27	None
7	Johannesburg	12	410	None
8	Pretoria	12	219	None
9	Roodepoort	04	161	None
10	Sebokeng	04	230	None
11	Springs	04	164	None

KWAZULU NATAL PROVINCE

No	Facility	(ii)Number of medical officers including pathologists	(iii)Bodies examined Jan to Dec 2022 monthly average
1	Bulwer	Shares with Ixopo	Holding Facility
2	Dannhauser	Shares with Newcastle	Holding Facility
3	Dundee	1	20
4	Estcourt	Shares with Ladysmith	32
5	Eshowe	Shares with Richards Bay	26
6	Greytown	2	37
7	Harding	1	19
8	Howick	1	19
9	Ixopo	1	30
10	KwaDukuza	2	73
11	Kokstad	Shares with Ixopo	10
12	Ladysmith	1	60
13	Madadeni	1	44
14	Manguzi	Shares with Richards Bay	Holding Facility
15	Mkhuze	Shares with Richards Bay	Holding Facility
16	Mtubatuba	Shares with Richards Bay	Holding Facility
17	Mosvold	Shares with Richards Bay	Holding Facility
18	Newcastle	3	17
19	New Hanover	Shares with Greytown	10
20	Nkandla	Shares with Richards Bay	Holding Facility
21	Nongoma	1	43
22	Park Rynie	4	141
23	Paulpietersburg	Shares with Vryheid	Holding Facility
24	Pietermaritzburg	4	166
25	Pinetown	8	216
26	Phoenix	3	321
27	Pongola	Shares with Nongoma	Holding Facility
28	Port Shepstone	3	67
29	Richards Bay	3	141
30	Richmond	Shares with Pietermaritzburg	Holding Facility
31	Ulundi	Shares with Nongoma	Holding Facility
32	Umzimkulu	Shares with Ixopo	14
33	Vryheid	1	26

(b) The KwaZulu Department of Health indicates that there is a backlog of 52 bodies as of 31 August 2023.

LIMPOPO PROVINCE

No	Facility	(ii)Number of medical officers including pathologists	(iii)Bodies examined for the month of August 2023	(b) Backlog as of 31 August 2023
1	Polokwane	8	148	None
2	Lebokwakgomo	1	42	None
3	Bela Bela	1	45	None
4	Elim	1	38	None
5	Maphutha Malatjie, Phalaborwa	0	30	None
6	Nkhensani, Giyani	1 for Phutha Malatjie and Nkhensani	40	None
7	Kgapane, Tzaneen	1	35	None
8	Tshilidzini	2	21	None
9	Letaba, Tzaneen	2	24	None
10	St Ritas	1 for both St Ritas and Groblersdal	12	None
11	Mokopane	2	21	None
12	Groblersdal	0	17	None

MPUMALANGA PROVINCE

No	Facility	(ii)Number of medical officers including pathologists	(iii)Bodies examined for the month of August 2023	(b) Backlog as of 31 August 2023
1	Balfour	1	6	None
2	Barberton	1	12	None
3	Belfast	0	11	None
4	Bethal	1 for Bethal and Standerton	21	None
5	Carolina	1 for Carolina and Embhuleni	8	None
6	Delmas	1	8	None
7	Embhuleni	0	13	None
8	Ermelo	1	27	None
9	Evander	1	31	None
10	KwaMhlanga	2 for KwaMhlanga and Mmamethlake	36	None
11	Lydenburg	1 for Lydenburg and Mapulaneng	10	None
12	Mmamethlake	0	0	None
13	Mapulaneng	0	43	None
14	Middelburg	1 for Middleburg and Belfast	30	None
15	Piet Retief	1	14	None
16	Themba	2	65	None
17	Tintswalo	1	23	None
18	Tonga	1	26	None
19	Standerton	0	16	None
20	Volksrust	1	11	None
21	Witbank	2	56	None

Mpumalanga Department of Health has additional:

Forensic Pathologist responsible for the whole province
1 Forensic Pathologist responsible for Nkangala District
1 Senior Medical officer responsible for Ehlanzeni District
1 Senior Medical office responsible for the Gert Sibande District.

NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCE

No	Facility	(ii)Number of medical officers including a pathologist	(iii)Bodies examined for the month of August 2023	(b) Backlog as of 31 August 2023
1	Kimberley	2	50	None
2	Upington	1	33	None
3	De Aar	1	20	None
4	Kuruman	1	30	None
5	Calvinia	1	5	None
6	Springbok	1	15	None
7	Postmasburg		Holding facility	Not applicable
8	Hartswater		Holding facility	Not applicable
9	Douglas		Holding facility	Not applicable
10	Prieska		Holding facility	Not applicable
11	Victoria West		Holding facility	Not applicable

NORTHWEST PROVINCE

No	Facility	(ii)Number of medical officers including pathologists	(iii)Bodies examined on the month of August 2023	(b) Backlog as of 31 August 2023
1	Phokeng	2	82	None
2	Vryburg	1	26	None
3	Klerksdorp	1	23	None
4	Lichtenburg	1	11	None
5	Brits	3	54	None
6	Potchefstroom	2	13	None
7	Mafikeng	1	17	None

WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE

No	Facility	(ii)Number medical officers including Pathologists	(iii)Average Bodies examined for the period April 2022/2023 financial year monthly average
Garden Route / Central Karoo	3
1	Beaufort West		7
2	George		24
3	Knysna		12
4	Laingsburg Mossel		2
5	Mossel Bay		10
6	Oudtshoorn		10
7	Riversdale		5
City of Cape Town
8	Salt River	15	355
9	Tygerberg	15	318
Westcoast/Cape Winelands	4(2 vacant)
10	Malmesbury		14
11	Vredenburg		11
12	Vredendal		16
13	Paarl		40
Winelands/Overberg	4
14	Hermanus		26
15	Ceres		17
16	Worcester		44

(b) The Western Cape Department of Health indicates that the number of outstanding postmortems as of 2023/09/28 is 202 with no mortuaries indicated.

(2) Tables below indicate Forensic pathology mortuary by name and location.

EASTERN CAPE

	Facility	Location
1	New Brighton	New Brighton
2	Mount Road	Mount Road
3	Gelvandale	Gelvandale
4	Grahamstown	Grahamstown
5	Graaff-Reinet	Graaff -Reinet
6	Woodbrook	Woodbrook
7	Mdantsane	Mdantsane
8	Bizana	Bizana
9	Butterworth	Butterworth
10	Bhisho	Bhisho
11	Queenstown	Queenstown
12	Adelaide	Adelaide
13	Aliwal North	Aliwal North
14	Middelburg	Middelburg
15	Mthatha	Mthatha
16	Mount Fletcher	Mount Fletcher
17	Mount Frere	Mount Frere
18	Molteno	Molteno
19	Lusikisiki	Lusikisiki
20	Port Alfred	Port Alfred
21	Uitenhage	Uitenhage
22	Joubertina	Joubertina

FREE STATE PROVINCE

No	Facility	Location
1	Bethlehem	Bethlehem
2	Bloemfontein	Bloemfontein
3	Botshabelo	Botshabelo
4	Ficksburg	Ficksburg
5	Jagersfontein	Jagersfontein
6	Harrismith	Harrismith
7	Kroonstad	Kroonstad
8	Phuthaditjhaba	Phuthaditjhaba
9	Sasolburg	Sasolburg
10	Smithfield	Smithfield
11	Welkom	Welkom

GAUTENG PROVINCE

No	Facility	Location
1	Johannesburg	Hillbrow Johannesburg
2	Roodepoort	Roodepoort
3	Germiston	Germiston
4	Carletonville	Carletonville
5	Springs	Springs
6	Heidelburg	Heidelburg
7	Diepkloof	Diepkloof, Soweto
8	Sebokeng	Sebokeng
9	Pretoria	Pretoria
10	Bronkhorspruit	Bronkhorspruit
11	Garankuwa	Ga- Rankuwa

KWAZULU NATAL PROVINCE

No	Facility	Location
1	Phoenix	Phoenix
2	Pinetown	Pinetown
3	Park Rynie	Park Rynie
4	Port Shepstone	Port Shepstone
5	Harding	Harding
6	KwaDukuza	KwaDukuza
7	Pietermaritzburg	Pietermaritzburg
8	New Hanover	New Hanover
9	Howick	Howick
10	Richmond	Richmond
11	Ladysmith	Ladysmith
12	Estcourt	Estcourt
13	Dundee	Dundee
14	Greytown	Greytown
15	Newcastle	Newcastle
16	Madadeni	Madadeni
17	Dannhauser	Dannhauser
18	Kokstad	Kokstad
19	Ixopo	Ixopo
20	Umzimkulu	Umzimkulu
21	Bulwer	Bulwer
22	Nongoma	Nongoma
23	Paulpietersburg	Paulpietersburg
24	Vryheid	Vryheid
25	Pongola	Pongola
26	Richards Bay	Richards Bay
27	Eshowe	Eshowe
28	Richards Bay	Richards Bay
29	Mkhuze	Mkhuze
30	Mosvold	Mosvold
31	Manguzi	Manguzi
32	Nkandla	Nkandla
33	Ulundi	Ulundi

LIMPOPO PROVINCE

No	Facility	Location
1	Polokwane	Polokwane Hospital
2	Lebokwakgomo	Lebowakgomo
3	Bela Bela	Bela Bela Hospital
4	Elim	Elim Hospital
5	Maphutha Malatjie	Maphutha Malatjie Hospital
6	Nkhensani	Nkhensani Hospital
7	Kgapane, Tzaneen	Kgapane Hospital
8	Tshilidzini	Tshilidzini Hospital
9	Letaba, Tzaneen	Letaba Hospital, Tzaneen
10	St Ritas	St Ritas Hospital
11	Mokopane	Mokopane Hospital
12	Groblersdal	Groblersdal Hospital

MPUMALANGA PROVINCE

No	Facility	Location
1	Balfour	Balfour Community Health Centre
2	Barberton	Barberton Hospital
3	Belfast	HA Grove Hospital
4	Bethal	Bethal SAPS
5	Carolina	Carolina Hospital
6	Delmas	Bernice Samuel Hospital
7	Embhuleni	Embhuleni Hospital
8	Ermelo	Ermelo Hospital
9	Evander	Evander Hospital
10	KwaMhlanga	KwaMhlanga Hospital
11	Lydenburg	Lydenburg Hospital
12	Mmamethlake	Mmametlhake Hospital
13	Mapulaneng	Mapulaneng Hospital
14	Middelburg	Middleburg Hospital
15	Piet Retief	Piet Retief Hospital
16	Themba	Themba Hospital
17	Tintswalo	Tintswalo Hospital
18	Tonga	Tonga Hospital
19	Standerton	Standerton Hospital
20	Volksrust	Amajuba Hospital
21	Witbank	Witbank SAPS

NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCE

No	Facility	Location
1	Kimberley	Kimberly
2	Upington	Upington
3	De Aar	De Aar
4	Kuruman	Kuruman
5	Calvinia	Calvinia
6	Springbok	Springbok
7	Postmasburg	Postmansburg
8	Hartswater	Hartswater
9	Douglas	Douglas
10	Prieska	Prieska
11	Victoria West	Victoria West

NORTHWEST PROVINCE

No	Facility	Location
1	Phokeng	Doves Private Mortuary, Rustenburg
2	Vryburg	Joe Morolong Memorial Hospital, Vryburg
3	Klerksdorp	Tshepong Hospital Complex, Joubert on, Klerksdorp
4	Lichtenburg	Lichtenburg SAPS Station Lichtenburg
5	Brits	427 Crocodile St, Primindia, Brits
6	Potchefstroom	25 OR Tambo Street, Potchefstroom
7	Mahikeng	Mahikeng Provincial Hospital

WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE

No	Facility	Location
1	Salt River	Salt River
2	Tygerberg	Tygerberg
3	Paarl	Paarl
4	Vredendal	Vredendal
5	Malmesbury	Malmesbury
6	Vredenburg	Vredenburg
7	Worcester	Worcester
8	Wolseley	Wolseley
9	Hermanus	Hermanus
10	George	George
11	Laingsburg	Laingsburg
12	Mossel Bay	Mossel Bay
13	Knysna	Knysna
14	Oudtshoorn	Oudtshoorn
15	Beaufort West	Beaufort West
16	Riversdale	Riversdale

3. (a) There are no specific regulations in place that regulate the period for post-mortems. The regulations regarding the rendering of Forensic Pathology Service (R359; 23 March 2018) in terms of section 90(1) of the National Health Act does not specifically state any such timelines.

The Forensic Pathology Service in each province does however set targets and measure the turn-around time of post-mortem examinations and most provinces set the 3 to 7 days turnaround time. This also is depended on the number of bodies received and capacity that is available to conduct post-mortems. However, most postmortems are conducted between (1) to (3) days in majority of facilities.

(b) There are regulations that govern mortuaries in terms of the National Health Act (Chapter 8). These are R363; 22 May 2013; Regulations regarding the management of human remains.

The National Code of Guidelines for Forensic Pathology Practice in South Africa, issued in relation to the Regulations of the National Health Act 61 of 2003 provide guidance on period for postmortem examinations and body storage temperatures. The Code of Guidelines stipulate only that postmortem examinations must be conducted as soon as possible. These Code of Guidelines and are currently being revised.

END.

Source file

RNW3082-231011.docx

11 October 2023 - NW3082

Smalle, Mr JF to ask the Minister of Health

Reply:

Source file

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