Five-year search for brother buried as pauper ends in family heartbreak

Mthetheleli Rexe is traumatised after having had to examine several decomposing bodies exhumed in a search for his younger brother, who was buried as a pauper in Cape Town — but has nevertheless returned empty-handed to his family in the Eastern Cape. 

Nearly five years after Madoda Victor Rexe was killed by a car on the M5, his family is still seeking closure.

Rexe, a 67-year-old pensioner, spoke of his “heartbreaking search for Madoda’s remains”. Struggling not to break down, he said he was at his “wits’ end”. 

Madoda, who sometimes slept on the streets, went missing in about July 2020. Rexe, who worked in Cape Town before retiring to his rural home in Middledrift in the Eastern Cape, started searching for his brother when he stopped answering his cellphone.

In 2021 he was told Madoda had been killed by a car. He went to Salt River state mortuary, where an ID check revealed Madoda, whose fingerprints had been taken, had been buried as a pauper four days earlier. The wait to exhume the body would last almost two years.

The death certificate said Madoda, 52, had died of “unnatural causes” on October 10 2020. Records show he was buried in grave Y545 at Wallacedene Cemetery in Kraaifontein, by an undertaker contracted by the city.

“I lived with Madoda in Khayelitsha when I worked in Cape Town and got worried in 2020 when I could not reach him,” said Rexe. He heard Madoda had worked as a carpenter in Rondebosch and lived on the streets with friends.

“One of the people said he was hit by a car ... but did not have further information. I phoned Groote Schuur [Hospital], but he was not there.”

Madoda was buried on February 26 2021. His family were told the process to have him exhumed would take about 18 months.  

“After 18 months, we went to Wallacedene. The funeral parlour that buried him, which had been contracted by the City of Cape Town, said he had a tag on his arm. We were told to find an undertaker and made all the preparations for the funeral. At home, we prepared for the burial and bought groceries. I had to break the news to my family that Madoda’s body could not be found.” 

“We went through several coffins, but we could not find a body with a tag or one that had his features. It was devastating,” he said.

They wanted to give me a body without a tag that did not resemble my brother at all 

—  Mthetheleli Rexe

“The other graves of people buried on the same day as Madoda were dug up on the second day, but the body was not found. They wanted to give me a body without a tag that did not resemble my brother at all. I refused. They should have done a DNA test at least.

“I came back without the body. The R17,000 we paid to the undertaker went down the drain.”

Rexe’s sister, Busisiwe Rexe-Bobo, complained to the city ombudsman in October 2023. 

“I hereby lodge a complaint [with] your office in relation to the matter [concerning] the case of our deceased brother, Madoda Victor Rexe, [which] has been unfairly handled by the officials responsible for burials at government cemeteries in the Western Cape,” read the letter.

“My family managed to trace [his] whereabouts. We requested [that] the government release his body so we [could] bury him next to his late parents at our homestead.” The family completed all the required paperwork.

“This has emotionally and financially drained us. We do not know what to do any more. We therefore request your intervention in this matter. We need our beloved late brother’s remains [so that we can] bury him at his homestead,” the letter read. 

The city confirmed a “senior investigating officer is leading the investigation”, which is being carried out by the ombudsman’s office.

The recreation and parks department this week confirmed Madoda was “buried in Wallacedene in February 2021” and acknowledged receiving queries about the burial.

The city said paupers were buried as “unidentified [and] unclaimed” with a forensic reference number. A service provider appointed by the provincial government performed the burial. 

The funeral parlour that buried Madoda declined to comment.

The provincial department of health & wellness acknowledged the family’s distressing situation and added that its forensic pathology service (FPS) was “committed to handling every case with care and dignity”. It said it wanted to “reassure the family that all appropriate steps were followed in this matter”. 

The department confirmed Madoda was “admitted to the Observatory Forensic Pathology Institute in October 2020 as an unidentified person.

“In keeping with our standard procedures, we collected both fingerprint and DNA samples to help establish his identity. A positive identification was later confirmed. The SA Police Service (SAPS) followed up on the last known address. Unfortunately, despite these efforts, no family could be reached at the time.

“In cases where we are unable to trace relatives after a thorough search and a period of time has passed, the law requires us to arrange a burial to protect public health. In this case, the SAPS approved a burial in early February 2021, and the department’s contracted undertaker proceeded with the burial.”

FPS was made aware of Madoda’s living relatives in March, after a communication from the department of home affairs, the department added.  

“As soon as we were contacted, we shared all available information with the family and provided the documents and guidance needed to support the next steps, including how to apply for an exhumation.

“We remain committed to providing support to all people and handling these matters with care and dignity.”