A grieving Masite Ha Mokaoli family in Rothe is struggling to exhume and repatriate the body of their son who was erroneously buried in Zimbabwe two months ago in a tragic mortuary mix-up in South Africa.
The family is grappling with emotions and looking for answers on how the remains of Kahlolo Mosia (26), who was tragically shot dead on August 9, 2024 in Johanesburg, ended up in Matabeleland South, hundreds of kilometres away from his loved ones.
The body was mistakenly handed over to a Zimbabwean family by a South African funeral parlour on August 24 and buried a few days later.
The mix-up reportedly occurred when a mortuary in Johannesburg identified Kahlolo’s body as that of Bambanani Ndebele, a Zimbabwean man who was in his late 20s. Apparently, Ndebele also lost his life in a violent manner after he was hit with a knobkerrie following a party he had hosted in South Africa.
The mortuary then took Kahlolo’s body to Zimbabwe where he was buried in the Ndebele graveyard in Mangwe District.
His family in Rothe told theReporter in emotional interviews this week that they were still trying to come to terms with the mistake.
They said that weeks after Kahlolo’s burial, they are struggling to navigate the complex process of exhuming and repatriating his remains for reburial at home.
The Ndebele family reportedly buried Kahlolo’s remains at Cross Roads village under Chief Bonga’s area, a few days later after collecting his body, instead of burying their son Bambanani.
The mishap was discovered a week after the burial, when Kahlolo’s family went to collect his body from Dignity Funeral Parlour, in South Africa. Although Bambanani’s body was stored at a different funeral parlour, the two reportedly use the same storage facility.
Now, the devastating mix-up has plunged the two families into turmoil, with the Mosias left waiting in anguish as their son’s body remains unrepatriated due to the bureaucratic entanglements they are facing.
Kahlolo’s mother, ‘Mathabo Mosia, said the family was going through a lot since they learnt of the mix-up.
“It has been a long journey; we have been through a lot. I hope the mortuary will bring the body of my son as soon as possible, so that we can give him a befitting burial” she said in a brief telephone interview.
Kahlolo’s uncle, Motlalepula Mosia, expressed the family’s enduring grief over their loss in a telephonic interview with this publication yesterday.
Motlalepula said the family was still battling to find closure and move forward after their son’s remains were buried in Zimbabwe.
According to him, Kahlolo was supposed to be buried on August 31 at their home, and all the arrangements for his burial including the slaughtering of a cow, in accordance with tradition, were made.
“It’s almost two months now but there is no progress,” he said.
“We had made all the preparations for his burial. His last send-off was on Saturday but all those preparations including the traditional ceremony we had planned, went to waste.
“We are shattered and unable to comprehend how this could have happened,” Motlalepula pointed out, his voice trembling with sorrow.
He said despite the mortuary’s willingness to take the responsibility and cover the costs of exhuming and repatriating Kahlolo’s remains, the family has been faced with insurmountable red tap dealing with the process.
“We are still living with the pain of losing our son. It has been incredibly difficult for us, especially as we continue to wait for his body to be brought home. The mortuary has been trying to work with the Zimbabwean Consulate in South Africa to get our son back, but so far, they have not been helpful,” Motlalepula noted.
He added: “Today, I received a call from the mortuary and they informed me that they were done with the paper work and were at the Zimbabwe Consulate in Pretoria, where he was called for the appointment but upon arrival, the consulate staff was reported to have gone on a work trip and would only be back on the 23rd of this month.”
Asked for comment yesterday, the Consulate said the office was not aware of the issue but promised to investigate and get back to this publication.
The chief of Masite Ha Mokaoli, Moralinyane Sekhonyana said the incident has caused considerable inconvenience to the community.
Chief Sekhonyana expressed his disbelief at the mix-up that led to the mistaken burial of Kahlolo’s body so far from home.
“How the family (Ndebele) could fail to recognise the face of their son, particularly when there was no visible disfigurement, is beyond my comprehension. The entire situation is confusing.
“A grave had been painstakingly dug, only to be refilled and abandoned, leaving the Mosia family in pain. The community had to eat the prepared food and leave, you can understand how that has affected the family,” he said.
According to a Zimbabwean publication, anxiety has spread like wildfire in the community of Zimbabwe where Kahlolo was buried.
It says the graveyard has also become a focal point of fear and concern as residents worry that his spirit, deprived of its rightful place of rest, may cause problems or even curse the community.
Speaking to the same publication recently, Bambanani’s uncle, Edison Ndebele, said the family was shocked by the incident and feared a potential spiritual consequence of burying a stranger in their family graveyard, which he described as sacred.
“We are in fear because we buried a stranger thinking he was our family member. We don’t know what burial rituals people from Lesotho follow,” he lamented. “What if this mistake curses our family?” he equipped.
Ndebele stated that the family had performed rituals to inform Bambanani’s late mother, also buried in the same graveyard, about her ‘son’s’ burial.
“It was all in vain,” he added.
Ndebele also pointed out that Urban Services Funeral Parlour, the company responsible for the tag mix-up, promised to cover all costs involved in rectifying the situation.
The family now anxiously awaits the exhumation and repatriation of Kahlolo’s body, while arrangements are being made to finally bury Bambanani, whose body remains in South Africa.
