The Gauteng government is piloting a system that uses technology to identify unclaimed and unidentified bodies at its mortuaries.

Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu says over a thousand unidentified bodies had to be given paupers burials in Gauteng last year alone.

She attributed the high number of unclaimed bodies to a lack of authentic identity documents from people travelling from different provinces and neighbouring countries into Gauteng.

Mahlangu says the Mortuary Management System is currently being tested at the Hillbrow Forensic Pathology Services in Johannesburg.

She says: “We are hoping that once this is fully rolled out in the province we will be in a position to take these bodies by just working with home affairs but also just ensuring that looking at their DNA we will be able to trace their origins and link them up with their families.”