A homeless man is suspected to have died of an asthma attack in front of the Pizza Hut and Shisha Hut on Bird Street in Stellenbosch, during the late afternoon on 4 October.
According to Sergeant Jason Rhoda of Stellenbosch SAPS the body of the man was removed from the scene during the early hours of the next morning.
“The body was removed by a local undertaker around 3:30,” said Rhoda.
A witness, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the man, who went by the name “Uncle”, collapsed in front of the two restaurants around 17:00. During this time, a security guard phoned the ambulance, the witness said.
It is suspected that the deceased died before the authorities arrived on the scene, she said.
“Firstly it was the police and then the ambulance [that arrived],” the witness confirmed.
According to the witness, the ambulance arrived at 17:40 and forensics had arrived on the scene at around 20:00.
The witness said that when she left the scene at 23:20 to go home, the body was still at the scene.
“It was only the relatives or the friends that were there waiting for the body to be removed,” she said.
According to a friend of the deceased, Randal Pulling, who was at the scene at 23:00, “Uncle” will be missed for his loving nature.
While friends and relatives have shared their frustration with the apparent inaction from law enforcement to remove the body, captain Nathalie Martins from Stellenbosch SAPS told MatieMedia that if no foul play is suspected it is not SAPS nor forensics’ responsibility to remove the body.
There was also no case opened with Stellenbosch SAPS for this reason, Martin said.
According to Martin, if the individual died of natural causes, forensics would not take the body of the deceased. The local undertaker would be contacted for the removal of the body, she said.
