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W. Cape Muslim community wants autopsies fast-tracked inorder to observe burial rituals

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The Muslim community has started an online petition to demand that the Western Cape government adhere to the 24-hour rule for Muslim post-mortems.

Muslim families say since October last year they have had to wait up to a week for bodies to be released as a result of a backlog in the pathology service in the province.

The delays impact on the Islamic tradition to bury before sunset or within 24 hours, and the community in Cape Town is now blaming the Western Cape government of not being sympathetic to their burial traditions.

As a result of a backlog at the mortuaries, the Health Department is taking longer to perform post-mortems and this means families are waiting longer.

The Muslim Judicial Council’s (MJC) second deputy president, Shaikh Riad Fataar says the petition speaks to the Western Cape government, to bring back the 24 hour rule to accommodate the Muslims. “Traditionally what we do is that the funeral should take place as soon as possible, we have had that kind of cooperation all the years, even prior to my existence that cooperation has always been there.”

The Council says prior to 2006, the mortuary was under the South African Police Service, and the commander would issue a written order to say the Muslim community must be accommodated.

The Council says when the Health Department took over, all went well until last year.

“It is affecting our tradition… it is very bad for us because in our tradition, if you die, the quicker we can get you under the ground the better…” said one concerned resident.

The Health Department says the only affected cases are those pertaining to unnatural deaths.

It says it simply has not been able to maintain the 24-hour release period that Muslims need, despite recent interventions to appoint more staff.

Meanwhile, the Council has encouraged many people to sign the petition online.

 

 

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