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The Herald

23 unidentified bodies await burial papers: North West health department

The burials have taken place in Kanana and Stilfontein in accordance with legal provisions that allow the burial of unidentified people once all efforts to identify them have been exhausted. 'We have at least 30 and more to conduct identification processes and beyond that the law empowers government to conduct mass funerals.' Mothibedi also addressed public concern about the transparency of the process, saying the department has made efforts to involve communities and trace the identities of the deceased. 'We waited for more than four months with calls made for community members to come forward with information to help us identify the bodies. We have extracted DNA from the bodies and archived them in case someone comes forward later to make a claim,' he said. 'It is not true the department has kept burials secret. Burials of unidentified bodies happen all the time and are normally carried out without fanfare. There are no invitations to mass funerals.' Authorities are appealing to anyone with missing family members to contact the health department or local authorities, as DNA profiles remain available for future identification. TimesLIVE