Provincial police spokesperson, Motantsi Makhele, tells OFM News the Winburg police are seeking Nicolas Yusuf’s family so that they can hand over his body to be buried. Makhele says Yusuf was in the company of a friend, identified as Bright Walker, on the morning of 14 August, when the accident occurred.

Walker, who was in the driving seat, reportedly drove past the Winburg N5 T-junction at around 05:30, when they collided into an oncoming truck that was headed in the direction of the N1. Makhele says at the point of impact, the car the friends were travelling in burst into flames and their bodies were burned beyond recognition. Winburg police were able to trace Walker’s family in Johannesburg following investigations into the matter, but have been unable to do the same with Yusuf’s family. Makhele urges anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the deceased’s next of kin, to come forward and contact Winburg police.

In 2019, the Citizen reported there was an excess of 1000 bodies in the Gauteng province that had not been claimed by their families, across the province’s mortuaries. The general assumption at the time, was that the vast majority of the unclaimed bodies were that of homeless people and foreign nationals whose families are often not in the country.

OFM News