No parent or family should have to wait more than six months to bury their loved ones simply because the government delayed in concluding medical examinations.

So said Virginia Motsaneng (68), who has been waiting for the bodies of her two grandchildren – who were allegedly burnt to death by their own mother in February.

A Pretoria News report notes that she said it was bad enough that her child allegedly killed her grandchildren, aged five and eight, but now the government mortuary at Steve Biko Academic Hospital has not released their bodies. The mother later confessed to the double murder.

Family spokesperson Vincent Mabuza said they had sourced updates from the Atteridgeville Police Station and Magistrate’s Court where the case was being handled by an investigating officer and a prosecutor.

Mabuza, who is also Motsaneng’s twin brother, said: ‘We were told by the court prosecutor that a DNA test was done to confirm that the bodies indeed belonged to our children, but apparently the case has been passed to international forensic officials to confirm the results. The mother confessed, the police investigated; how long does my sister have to wait to bury her grandchildren and find closure?’

Abel Tau of ActionSA, which provided legal help for the family, said: ‘This (the deaths) happened in February and now we are sitting in August; so you can imagine what that does to the elderly woman.’

Full Pretoria News report