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BODY PARTS FOR SALE AT RFM!

29/09/2013 07:27:00 BY JOSEPH ZULU

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Dr Beauty Makhubela, RFM Chief Executive Officer. RIGHT PIC: The RFM Hospital morgue.

MANZINI – A mortuary attendant at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) hospital offered a particular human body part to a reporter from this newspaper for any amount between E400 to E1 000.

The part was to be ‘harvested’ from one of the bodies at the morgue.
The attendant, whose name and other particulars the Times SUNDAY will not reveal for now, revealed this to reporters who posed as traditional healers looking for human body parts and water used for washing corpses.

Journalists embarked on this investigation after getting a tip off that human body parts were being sold to criminals and traditional healers.
The investigation went on for about three weeks, with reporters gathering both audio and graphic evidence to prove that this crime was actually being committed.

The morgue attendant was initially asked for water used to bathe corpses, which he said many people had arrived in the past looking for.
The water is believed to contain spiritual powers when mixed with other traditional medicine. It is strangely believed that it can make one invincible from being harmed or killed when committing crimes.

The attendant said thieves claimed to use the water on a sleeping person before breaking into their house.
“Once they use the mixture on a person, he sleeps as if he is dead and they then break into his house and steal all the items while he sleeps,” he said.

A traditional healer who was asked about the water claimed that some used it to make love potions, which they sprinkle on their wives so that they did not leave them.

The RFM attendant was initially reluctant to reveal the information but eventually opened up after he was told that ‘traditional healers from Tanzania’ needed the water urgently.
He wanted to know what parts were they looking for, saying he could only get the parts and the water the following day.

“We are having a post-mortem tomorrow so it will be easier than today,” he said.
He was reluctant to mention how much the water or body parts would cost, saying the buyers were usually the ones who determined the prices.
He said it is much easier to sell internal organs but said the buyer should first know what he wanted.
“I cannot just give you a body part. I need to know exactly what you are looking for and what you want to use it for,” he said.

He said it was easier to sell the body parts during autopsies which are usually carried out on Thursdays.
He explained that relatives who later collected the deceased’s corpses were usually observant and one had to be careful which parts they removed.

He said it was not easy harvesting external body parts but much easier with internal organs as some of the relatives did not scrutinise the bodies.
“It is much easier to remove parts of an internal organ, like the fat, which some people need,” he said.
He said relatives usually checked the prominent organs, which he said were on high demand. These include eyes, breasts or private parts.

Victims

The attendant, however, said for accident victims, relatives normally could not tell whether the body part was lost in an accident or not.
He further revealed that any part may also be obtained including bones as some people need these parts.

He revealed that the previous week, another buyer had arrived during the night to purchase some items from one of the other mortuary attendants.
He could not reveal whether the person purchased water or body parts.
“That’s their secret,” he said.

When the reporter asked if he could sell some of the parts from the bodies which were at the hospital, the attendant wanted to know how much was being offered.
He declined to sell the parts for the amount offered, asking the reporter, who posed as a traditional healer, to increase it.
“I earn between E7 000 to E8 000, so if you want to buy the products, you will need to give me a reasonable amount,” he said.

He eventually agreed to sell part of the brain from a dead person for about E500 but also hinted that he needed to see the people who wanted the parts.
He was going to take a few days off but told the reporter that should he need help before he returns to work, he could talk to another attendant who worked at night.
The attendant was very secretive and refused to divulge further information or the name of the other person but told the reporter to see him in person.

“It should be a secret between you and him,” he said.
Accident victims are the most common sources of human body parts according to a mortuary attendant at RFM who claimed to sell them.

The attendant said it was much easier to collect body parts from accident victims or after an autopsy when corpses had been dissected.
“Relatives usually can’t tell the difference whether it was the doctor who was doing the post-mortem or the part has been removed,” he said.

He said those who died in accidents usually came with some of their body parts damaged. Relatives assume they lost the missing parts due to an injury.
The attendant revealed that he could also be able to sell body parts from unclaimed corpses although he was reluctant to do this.

For part of the brain from such a corpse, the attendant agreed to be paid at least E500.
He was willing to accept E500 for a portion of a dead woman’s breast.
The attendant could not state how many unclaimed bodies were at the mortuary.
The unclaimed corpses are mostly those of people mainly from Mozambique.

... Children, elderly in danger

MBABANE – Reverend Grace Masilela, a former traditional healer, says the most sought after parts are those belonging to children.

Masilela is now a senior reverend at the Church of the Nazarene and no longer practices as a traditional healer. She acknowledged that the trade in human body parts existed in the country, adding that some preferred parts from people who were still alive. Masilela, however, said traditional healers who used body parts were very particular and always specified what types of parts they needed.

They usually want parts from a person who has just died or was still alive when the part was removed. “Some traditional healers will tell you they want a warm heart, freshly pulled out from a person,” said Masilela. She further revealed that even body parts from elderly people were also in demand as there was a belief that the elderly had integrity. Masilela said those who used the parts usually purchased them from people they knew.

“If they are selling the parts from the hospital, they can steal from someone who has just died or about to die,” she said.
Masilela also acknowledged that water in which corpses had been bathed played a very important role among traditional healers.

She said there was a type of traditional healer known as Tingedla or specialists because they only study traditional medicines. These are the ones who sometimes used such water. They allegedly mix traditional medicines with the water to create a mixture known as “Ludvonsi lwemphisi” (the wolf’s sting) which is then used to make a person sleep as if he were dead.

“Once you sleep, they can lift you from your bed and steal it or even cook food in your kitchen without you waking up,” said Reverend Masilela.
She said thieves once used the substance on her while she lived in Ngomane after which they stole several items from her house.

Dead man’s eyes can see?

MBABANE – Prophets or soothsayers are allegedly the end users of muti made from human body parts such as the eyes. A traditional healer who also doubles as a security guard revealed this during an interview. He asked that his identity be kept confidential.

He said traditional healers mixed the parts with some of their concoctions and made medicine which they claimed gave them the power to see the future. “They are then able to see into someone’s past and future using those eyes,” he said. He said they insist on eyes of those who have been involved in accidents or were killed because this has a spiritual meaning to it.

The traditional healer said there was a different ‘spiritual power’ when someone died in an accident than when they died naturally. He said when a person died in an accident, the spirit roamed around for quite some time. Traditional healers, therefore, believe such body parts possess supernatural powers.
“It is easier to buy the body parts from public hospitals than private mortuaries,” said the traditional healer, without specifying if he knew this personally or had heard about it.

Private funeral parlours involved

MANZINI – Water drained when corpses are being washed is sold by both private and government hospital mortuary attendants.

Attendants at Zenzeleni Funeral Parlour in Manzini as well as the RFM hospital mortuary sold some of the water to reporters who posed as traditional healers.
The water is strategically harvested from the outside drain, using containers of various sizes.

A container of 100ml was sold for E100 by an attendant at the funeral parlour while a 500ml container was bought for E200 from the RFM.
An attendant at Zenzeleni (name also withheld) was initially offered E50 for the 100ml but he refused to accept it.

He insisted that more money should be added because some of his clients pay at least E500 for the water which the reporter was getting for E50.
He eventually agreed to sell the water for E100.

He entered the cold room while the reporter waited behind the mortuary and after about 15 minutes he came out wearing surgical gloves and carrying a container with the water.

The attendant at RFM said it would be easier to purchase the water during the post-mortem operations.
He said the bodies were usually washed after the post-mortem. He promised that he would put a container just below the drainage point outside the building so that some of the water could be collected.

When the reporter arrived later to collect the water, he claimed to have failed to collect it.
“You may have to come at another time,” he said.

After a brief discussion, he remembered that he would probably be able to organise some water as there was still a body that he needed to wash.
He then went to one of the rooms at the mortuary while the reporter waited for about two hours, after which he came back with a 500ml of the water.

“This is very concentrated but I can dilute it for you,” he said.
A Director of Zenzeleni Funeral Parlour was shocked to hear that water in which corpses had been bathed was sold at the morgue.

traumatised

“This is shocking and I am actually traumatised to hear it,” said the director who preferred to be identified only as Shongwe. He was informed that reporters posing as traditional healers had gone to the funeral parlour to purchase the water.

When asked what security measures were in place to prevent people selling water used to wash corpses or even human body parts, Shongwe said he could not answer the question.“Right now, I am too traumatised to answer. I am very shocked,” he said.
As the investigation continued, Times SUNDAY reporters also visited the Mbabane Government Hospital morgue and asked for some of the water used to wash corpses.
One of the appproached attendants asked the reporters to return the following week, preferably on a Wednesday.

He, however, suggested that they could try other private mortuaries or Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) morgue.
“That way, I can confirm that you really need the water,” he said before walking away. When reporters returned a week later, another attendant said it was better to have such dealings at night.