Mike Ngulube spent weeks in hospital after having been badly burnt in the blaze that ripped through the Usindiso building last year, killing his wife and 16-month-old daughter.
A year later, he is still searching for his toddler’s body, unable to find closure and move on from the tragedy.
His wife Joyce’s body was positively identified and has been buried. However, the body of the couple’s daughter, Memory, appears to have mysteriously vanished from the Diepkloof mortuary after being positively identified by Joyce’s father.
Police told the Sunday Times this week that Memory’s body had been released to Joyce’s parents for burial about a month after the blaze.
However, Joyce’s father, Forster Banda, has denied this. He told the Sunday Times that when they arrived at the mortuary to collect Memory’s body last year, staff told them there had been a mix-up and it had been given to someone else.
“They had the number of the man who had collected the body. We phoned him from the mortuary, and he said his family also lived in that building, and that the body was that of his daughter. He then ended the call and would not answer his phone again.
“We are still looking for the body of Memory,” Banda said. “We don’t know where she was buried. What the police are saying is not true. We want to know where Memory’s body is. She was a beautiful girl. Our hearts are still in pain over losing her.”
Mortuary staff told the families that when the workers were changing shifts, one of the workers did not mark Memory’s body as having been positively identified
— Mike Ngulube, father of deceased child
Ngulube, 36, who lives in inner-city Johannesburg, said the mix-up had ruined his life and left him without closure, as he had not yet been able to say a final goodbye to his daughter.
Recounting the blaze, he said he had escaped the flames by jumping into a tree next to the building. Before he lost consciousness, he called his family to alert them. He was then taken to Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, where he spent four days in ICU.
His quick-witted call enabled his and Joyce’s family to rush to the scene and immediately begin searching for mother and child.
“After establishing I was alive, my wife’s mother and my brother, Thom Nkhwazi, began searching for Joyce and Memory. They went to Diepkloof mortuary and were able to identify my daughter first.
“It was easy for Memory’s grandmother to recognise her because that week she had visited us. They spent time together and even took photos at the Carlton Centre. They were eating pizza together. These were the pictures they showed staff when they went to Diepkloof mortuary. They were then shown the body of Memory, which they positively identified.”
Ngulube said the family positively identified Memory just days after the blaze and filled in forms confirming this. However, they could not find Joyce, so DNA samples were taken from her parents. The results came back 21 days later — a positive match for a body at the mortuary. Ngulube was still in hospital.
“But when my brother and my in-laws went to the mortuary to collect both bodies, they were told Memory’s body was no longer there.
“Mortuary staff told the families that when the workers were changing shifts, one of the workers did not mark Memory’s body as having been positively identified.
“Another person came and took my daughter. I don’t know what documentation that person used to obtain the body, but the mortuary gave the body to him.
He said police took a DNA sample from him in February but never gave him the result.
Lt-Col Andile Mankayi, who leads the team of detectives in charge of the identification process, said Memory’s body had been taken by her maternal family.
“What we could pick up is that both families from the father and the mother’s side agreed the child must be taken by the mother’s side while Mike was in hospital. Both families met and made an arrangement and took the child.
“We called both families, and Mike’s family did not come. They said they were fine with the decision.
“We went further and took DNA from Mike and compared it with all 76 bodies there, but there was no match,” Mankayi said.
After the Sunday Times told Ngulube this week that the police said he had not been a match, he said: “If the police say that is not my child, then where is my child? When my wife was pregnant with Memory, she attended her antenatal care at Rosettenville Clinic and gave birth at South Rand Hospital. If anyone doubts that is my daughter, they must go there and search for the file of Joyce Banda. They will find it. After our baby was born, we lived with her in Usindiso building,” Ngulube said.
Ngulube’s brother, Thom Nkhwazi, confirmed he had accompanied Joyce’s mother and father to the mortuary when they had gone there to identify Memory.
“We filled in the forms, and they gave us the body number and indicated that if we wanted to take the child, we were free to do so.
“We all agreed that, because Joyce’s body had not yet been found, we should let the mortuary keep the child until we found Joyce, and then we could collect both bodies together for burial,” Nkhwazi said.
“When we came back, they told us someone had come and taken the body of the child,” Nkhwazi said.
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