Son refuses to bury ‘deadbeat’ father left in KZN mortuary for a month

The body of a man from Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, has been kept in the government mortuary for almost two months after his son says he will not bury an absent father.

Unemployed 42-year-old Zakhele Chonco does not have an identity document and does not receive any social services assistance from the government. He said that his father, Khipha Chonco, neglected them (his mother and three siblings) when they were very young.

“Life was difficult, and we were in the rural areas in Tugela Ferry (Greytown). Our uncles had to take us in. Over time, I left the rural areas to look for our father. I found him in Copesville, Pietermaritzburg. At that time, he stayed with his lover and a stepchild,” Chonco said.

He added that when he arrived in Copesville, he rented a room after finding temporary employment at a construction site, where they did not ask for his identity document.

“In 2021, my dad’s lover passed away, and her children kicked him out of the house. He approached me for a place to stay, and I shared my rented backroom with him.” 

He stated that his father suffered a stroke, and he had to take care of him, bathing him, cooking for him, while working at the construction site.

“He was assisted and got an early pension, because he could no longer fully take care of himself. After earning the pension, his attitude changed. He started borrowing money from people and promising to repay them once he received his pension. Yet, he was not buying anything for the place where we stayed. I was covering all the expenses with the little I earned,” he said.

Chonco mentioned that after months of staying with his father, he found a site where he could build a home and stop renting.

“I told him that we need to start building a home, but he said he was against it and left the room I rented, and started renting his own around Copesville. I built my home with mud and corrugated iron purchased from the scrapyard because I could not afford to buy new ones,” he said. 

Chonco became unemployed after the construction was completed, and turned to gardening to plant vegetables that he would sell to the public.

He also built a tuckshop with mud and sold items inside it, but was forced to close it down because he could not obtain a permit, as inspectors demanded, because he does not have an identity document.

When he finished building the house, the father came back to stay with him. 

“He had very strange behaviour. When he came in, he had people carrying his items. But, towards his pension payday, he would start carrying a backpack, removing his clothing little by little to stay with whomever he wanted to spend his money with.” 

He stated that his father had asked him to keep his pension card so that he wouldn’t lose it. 

“I am not sure whether he thought I would refuse to give him his card or something. He colluded with people with whom he was spending his pension money to secure a protection order against me,” he said.

Chonco stated that he was deeply hurt when his father accused him of being abusive and of stealing money while applying for the protection order. 

“My father has never done anything for me. Even when I asked him to help me secure an ID, he wasn’t willing to. Instead, he helped raise another woman’s child and even helped him get a certificate to work as a security guard,” he said.

He stated that watching others benefit from his father’s support while he, as a son, got nothing, has been painful.

I can’t vote, go to a hospital or clinic properly, or do anything. I can’t work, and I survive by gardening and planting vegetables, he said.

“That child he did everything for must bury him. Who is supposed to help me bury him? He left me with nothing, so how am I supposed to bury him? Even if I wanted to bury him, I don’t have the means. I don’t even have a funeral cover.” 

He said if the government were to offer his father a pauper’s burial, he would attend the funeral.

His father died in the first week of January 2026, and his body is still sitting in the mortuary.

Siphamandla Madlala, uMsunduzi Ward 29 councillor, said that he was not aware of Chonco’s situation and only heard about it in the media.

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