For nearly three days, a family of a Mpumalanga domestic worker searched for her, unaware she was in a government mortuary after she died at work.

Tryphinah Mngomezulu, 65, was killed in an alleged dog attack while on duty at a house in Secunda on March 2. Her son Klaas, 36, and other relatives called her phone, but it rang unanswered.

In the afternoon on March 4, her family was contacted by police and informed about the tragedy.

“All these days when we were worried about her disappearance, her employer did not bother to inform us. They know where we stay, they have been here before. Why did they not come with the police to at least let us know what had happened?

No one even bothered to answer her phone when we called,” said Klaas.

He said his mother had worked for her employer – at their school and home – for 14 years.

“She left home at 5.30 am. Usually, when she leaves, I become uneasy because of the high crime rate in the area ...so I wake up and see her out. We also make sure to speak over the phone during the day.

“I called her around 5pm as I usually would but her phone went unanswered. I kept calling over and over again because it was unusual that she was not picking up ,” he said.

Klaas said he grew concerned on Sunday afternoon when his mother did not return home as per normal and had not called him back.

“On Monday afternoon, I received a call from my wailing aunt who told me that my mother had died and that her body was at a state mortuary.”

Mngomezulu’s employer Annemi Homan said she had been instructed by police not to talk about the matter.

“I am not allowed to respond as instructed by the police.”

However, the family wants answers.

“The police told me the footage only shows my mother hitting the dogs with a hosepipe. Footage from when she entered [the employer’s yard], when she was doing laundry...is not there. I believe that the full footage would help answer a lot of questions. As it stands, we are not sure if she died from dog bites,” said Klaas.

Provincial police spokesperson Col Donald Mdhluli said while preliminary investigations reveal that Mngomezulu was allegedly attacked by about six malinois dogs, a probe was still ongoing and nothing has been concluded.

“The team has so far managed to make some progress in the investigation, one being the confiscation of CCTV footage.”

On why the family was only informed about Mngomezulu’s death on Monday, Mdhluli said police had been calling the family since Saturday but one of the contact numbers provided by the employer was not answered while another did not go through.

“The station commander personally contacted the number provided. We would not intentionally keep such information from the family...“On Monday, the idea to go through the deceased’s phone came up and police searched the missed calls, phoning numbers.  That is how we were able to reach the family.”

Mngomezulu’s sister Sonto Mngomezulu said her sister’s had dog bites and scratches.

“I have so many questions. If we can just get the full story we will be able to make peace.”

Klaas said Homan told them they were not at home when the incident happened and Mngomezulu was found by one of their children when she and the kids returned home from Mbombela.

Rose Mhlanga, a neighbour who would assist Mngomezulu with her work at the Homan’s home on some weekends, said she was shocked to learn that Mngomezulu was killed by the dogs she had been used to for many years.

■ sibiyan@sowetan.co.za