KZN Family struggles to bring back remains of daughter who died overseas

The family of a South African woman who died while in the Bahamas within the Lucayan Archipelago say they are unable to bring her remains back home because the Island is refusing to release her body, claiming that she died from TB.

Buhle Bhengu, 30, who hails from Umlazi in KwaZulu-Natal, is believed to have fallen sick and died a month ago while she was working on a cruise ship in the island. Buhle's brother Thobani Bhengu is currently in the archipelago fighting to bring his sister’s remains back to the country.

In a voice note sent by him, he begs South Africans to help him bring his sister's body back home.

“We are determined to fight to bring back her body and make sure that she is buried and treated the way she deserves. The funeral home (in the Bahamas) wants to cremate her but they won’t allow us to see her body. How can we know that [it] is Buhle? The person that we came here for?” he asked.

Buhle's aunt Mbali Bhengu said the deceased's grandmother is now ill because of the ordeal.

“She’s been sitting on the mattress for a whole month and ended up having to go to hospital,” she said.

Department of International Relations and Cooperation spokesperson Ndivhuwo Mabaya said they were aware of the case.

“The minister of communications brought the matter to our attention, we have activated the operations room and also, we are linking her [the minister] with our nearest embassy which is Jamaica. We are attending to the matter,” he said.