Toxicology report backlog leaves families in limbo

Delays highlight a national crisis

- MASABATA MKWANANZI

A GRIEVING family in Boksburg North may have to wait up to 10 years for a toxicology report after the death of their 41-year-old son, a father of two, sparking outrage.

The family was promised the autopsy report within eight weeks in April, but has since been bounced between three police stations and mortuary offices, left without answers.

"The waiting is unbearable, and it feels like justice is being denied to us," said the family, too distraught to speak publicly, relying on DA Gauteng Health spokesperson and MPL Madeleine Hicklin to speak on their behalf.

Earlier this year, their son underwent what was meant to be a routine neck surgery, which was aborted mid-procedure due to scar tissue from radiation treatment in 2010. Surgeons performed an emergency tracheotomy to help him breathe. For five months, the family endured ICU visits, ventilators, and repeated setbacks.

"My child could not breathe, and I was terrified he was going to suffocate and die. I was helpless to stop it. The day he died was the most agonising of my life," his mother said.