The owner of a local funeral parlour, who allegedly forced two of her former employees to cut the legs of a corpse so it could fit into a coffin, appeared in the Grahamstown Magistrate's Court on Friday 27 June.
The owner of a local funeral parlour, who allegedly forced two of her former employees to cut the legs of a corpse so it could fit into a coffin, appeared in the Grahamstown Magistrate's Court on Friday 27 June.
Siyakubonga funeral services owner, Ronel Mostert, faces charges of violation of a corpse following the shocking incident. The family of Thamsanqa Tshali – whose legs were cut with an angle grinder – has remained mum regarding the shocking incident.
Attempts to reach his sister to find out more about Tshali's life and how they felt about what was done to his corpse have yielded no results.
Siphamandla Dyasi and Mzwanele Klaas claim that Mostert allegedly forced them to use a grinder to cut the dead man's legs so his tall body could fit into a coffin – or risk losing their jobs if they disobeyed her.
The two men worked at Siyakubonga Funeral Services in 2011, when the alleged incident took place. Both tasked with the already grim business of handling dead bodies, they told Grocott's Mail they were shocked when their former employer asked them to cut off the legs of a man.
Making it more difficult for them was the fact that Klaas had known Tshali while he was still alive.
Klaas, who is now a taxi conductor, says he struggles to sleep at night and resorts to drugs to get a peaceful night's rest. The Zolani resident vows to never work in a funeral parlour again, due to the stressful conditions he was forced to work under while at Siyakubonga.
Dyasi who is originally from Sterkspruit told Grocott's Mail that his life has changed a lot since losing a steady job that had sustained him for about four years. He relies on odd jobs for relief and to put food on the table for his girlfriend. Both men's families rely heavily on them for financial support.
Dyasi says despite struggling to sustain his own life, he still has to provide for his mother and family back in Sterkspruit.
Tshali's body had been at the premises for about a week when the owner asked Dyasi and Klaas to cut short the legs of the former Southwell resident. Mostert appeared briefly before magistrate Dion Kotze in the Grahamstown Magistatrate's Court last Friday.
Kotze, however, recused himself from the case, but did not give reasons for doing so. The case was later heard in another court, and postponed to 7 July for pre-trial.
