As a grieving family buries a total stranger, top funeral home Avbob issues a public apology for the mix up.

The parlour informed the Sozombile family in Bizana that the body they thought was that of their beloved Rosetta Sozombile, was in fact not hers, this three days after the body was buried.

Avbob has accepted responsibility for the mismanagement.

According to Avbob corporate affairs general manager Adriaan Bester an exhumation process is underway for the erroneous burial, once they receive authorisation, the remains of Ms Sozombile will be laid to rest.

“With regards to the incorrect burial that took place we also have to confirm that our staff failed to follow standard operating procedures and misidentified the deceased as that of the late Rosetta Sozombile,” Bester said.

“The Bizana branch is a small branch with limited capacity and on the day they were attending to a number of instructions from different clients.”

“the fact that the branch is a long distance and several hours’ drive away from the hospital and the mortuary where the deceased had to be kept until the funeral it took longer than expected for our staff to perform the service.”

“It is also true that the delivery of the deceased on the day of the funeral happened late. This was because the staff members who attended to the service on the day of the funeral experienced difficulties with the coffining process and had to obtain permission from the family to use a bigger coffin first before the service could be conducted,” said Bester.

“They delivered the deceased to the family and contrary to standard operating procedures and protocols they failed to wear the required personal protective equipment.”

Bester admitted that the bungle was caused by his employees.

“Despite the above I would like to emphasise that we are not attempting to make excuses for the mistakes and procedural deviations which led to the sub-standard performance of our duties. At this time we would once again like to apologise to the family and loved ones for the inconvenience and disruptions caused. As we have already informed the family we will conduct all services and perform the burial at no cost to them,” said Bester.

The family of Sozombile, however, told DispatchLive that they were not happy with the service from Avbob and that they felt undermined.

By Naadiya Adams