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Walter Mswazie, Masvingo Correspondent
A FAMILY in Masvingo went through a horrific experience after learning that a body which they believed was of their relative who had died in South Africa turned out to be a stranger’s.

The incident which occurred last Thursday has delayed the burial of Mrs Nyaradzai Ncube (45) of Pangolin Suburb.

The mistake was discovered by officials at a funeral parlour in South Africa who quickly informed Ncube’s family when the body was still in Rutenga on its way to her home in Masvingo.

The wrong body the family was handed belonged to a woman from Buhera who also died in South Africa and was supposed to be collected by the Muchemwa family.

The deceased’s husband, Mr Maxwell Ncube (53), said when he received a message that there had been a mix-up, he quickly phoned his uncle who was transporting the body and told him to proceed with it straight to a parlour in Masvingo.

Mrs Ncube died two weeks ago at a Cape Town Hospital in South Africa where she had gone for breast cancer treatment.

Mr Ncube said the mix-up would be corrected and he was expecting his wife’s body anytime.

“There was a mix-up of bodies at a funeral parlour in Cape Town, South Africa, after my wife passed on in that country. She had flown there for a check-up for breast cancer two weeks back. My uncle and other relatives who represented us in South Africa were handed the body belonging to the Muchemwa family from Buhera instead of my wife’s body,” said Mr Ncube.

“My uncle did all the modalities to have my wife’s body repatriated to Zimbabwe. When he went to the parlour with other relatives, they were stopped from observing the cleaning and dressing of the body.”

Mr Ncube said on Thursday afternoon some officials at the dispatching parlour in South Africa realised the mix-up and phoned a partner funeral parlour in Masvingo who alerted the Ncube and Muchemwa families about the mistake.

— @walterbmswazie3