Press Statement | Lawyers For Human Rights Intervenes To Secure The Release Of A Deceased Child’s Body After Hopsital Misclassification

Date: 03/08/2026


Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) has secured the release of a deceased minor child’s body after intervening in a matter involving the misclassification of a refugee patient at Steve Biko Academic Hospital.

LHR became involved after a bereaved parent was presented with a hospital bill in the amount of R112,000 and was unable to proceed with burial arrangements. The amount arose in circumstances where the patient had been incorrectly classified by the hospital, with serious consequences for the family at a time of profound grief. Following urgent engagement by LHR, the hospital accepted the relevant documentation, corrected the patient’s classification from PF to H1 (F), and revised the account accordingly. As a result, the amount due was reduced from R112,000 to R750. Once the revised amount was paid, the family was referred to the mortuary and permitted to collect the child’s body.

The matter was resolved without the need to institute litigation.

WHAT THIS MATTER SHOWS

This case is a stark reminder that administrative decisions in the healthcare system are never merely technical. Classification determines what patients are charged, how they are treated, and whether their families are able to navigate illness, death, and burial with dignity.

In this matter, the consequences of misclassification were severe. A grieving family was effectively confronted with a six-figure bill at the very moment they were trying to secure the release of a child’s body. The difference between the original amount and the corrected amount, R112,000 as against R750, speaks for itself.

No family should be placed in that position.

For refugees and other vulnerable groups, administrative failures often carry especially harsh consequences. Where legal status is misunderstood or disregarded, people are exposed to unlawful or disproportionate charges and unnecessary obstacles in accessing basic services. In a case involving the death of a child, those failures become even more intolerable.

THE LEGAL AND HUMAN DIMENSION

Hospitals and other public institutions are under a duty to act lawfully, fairly, and in a manner consistent with the constitutional rights to dignity, equality, and access to healthcare services. That duty does not diminish when the person seeking services is a refugee. If anything, the need for accuracy, care, and fairness is heightened where vulnerable communities are concerned.

The release of a deceased person’s body should never be delayed because of an avoidable administrative error. Nor should a bereaved family be forced to seek legal assistance to correct a classification that ought to have been properly applied in the first place.

LHR’S POSITION

LHR welcomes the fact that the matter was ultimately resolved and that the family is now able to proceed with burial.

At the same time, it is deeply concerning that legal intervention was necessary before the correct classification was applied and the account revised. Public institutions should not require external pressure to remedy errors with consequences this serious.

A grieving parent should not have to confront a bill of R112,000 as a barrier to burying a child, only for that amount to be reduced to R750 once legal representatives intervene. That is not a minor adjustment. It is a clear indication of the extent to which misclassification can prejudice vulnerable patients and their families.

LHR calls on healthcare institutions and relevant authorities to ensure that patient classification systems are applied lawfully, consistently, and without discrimination, and that the rights of refugees and other vulnerable persons are respected in practice.

WHAT MUST CHANGE

This matter underscores the need for:

  • proper recognition and verification of refugee and asylum documentation
  • lawful and consistent application of patient classification systems and care
  • billing practices that are fair, transparent, and compliant with the law
  • safeguards to ensure that bereaved families are not subjected to avoidable administrative delays, and
  • Responses that are grounded in dignity, fairness, and humanity.

No family should have to endure added hardship in the midst of grief because a public institution failed to get the basics right.

Ends,

For media enquiries, contact: mpho@lhr.org.za

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