WOMEN'S DAY | Meet Joburg morgue's all-women team: 'It's not glamorous like you see on TV'

When it comes to anatomy, maggots and murder, women are taking the lead in the city of gold.

Johannesburg Forensic Pathology Services (FPS) Medico Legal Mortuary is one of a cluster of eight in the south of the city. It sees up to 4,000 cases a year and most are violent deaths: murder. The facility is in the heart of the city in the midst of hijacked buildings, drug dealers, gangsters and thieves — and it's headed by a group of young women.

Dr Shakeera Holland is the head of the southern cluster of the FPS, which oversees eight laboratories, including Diepkloof FPS, where there are eight women doctors.

“I don't have an answer for why. I can answer for why I do this work. I have a thirst for knowledge and solving problems. Most of the work we do is investigative,” she said.

“I want to know why things go wrong and I want to contribute and improve society.”

The forensic labs see people who have died of unnatural causes. “Most cases are of violent crimes. We help victims and families. The need to, or want to, give back could perhaps be stronger in women,” said Holland. 

"[Forensic pathology] is a path for a small fraternity of doctors. Very few choose this [branch of medicine] and the ones who choose it go in with the knowledge that they will always work for the state.

“It's always difficult and poorly resourced so it needs [someone] with a passion to make a difference, someone who wants to make sure justice is done and wants to improve society.

“It's not easy on staff. TV makes it look glamorous but it's hard work and dirty work.

“You are seeing the ugliest aspect of humanity every day but you keep going because if we don't speak for the victims then who will do it?”

When it comes to gender-based violence, Holland said the FPS labs are seeing first-hand the social injustice in the country. She said their job was to ensure the cases were brought to the fore, ensuring justice is done and potentially taking a murderer out of society.

“That's what keeps me in it, and I am motivated when I see how enthusiastic our — all women — students are, despite their working environment.”

Ildi Wainer, 48, toxicologist and lecturer at the department of forensic medicine at University of the Witwatersrand, said the best way to get into a career in forensics was to apply for internships. That is how she began her career, starting at the forensic toxicology lab straight from university.

“I was thrown in the deep end — hands on is the best way to learn,” she said.

She worked for 15 years before swapping dead tissue for the living at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in the clinical medical lab. But a year later she was back working with forensics. 

Forensics relates to the investigation of crime. The information garnered from the toxicology — the study of poisons on living tissue — helps pathologists, who examine bodies and body tissues, to make their diagnoses. 

“We are at the coalface here. What this job teaches you is that life is short and it could end any time.”

Wainer works at the Johannesburg FPS, one of the busiest in the country. She said most cases are from gun violence. 

“People here have been shot - many times - and by many different weapons. We also see lots of stabbings.”

The laboratory is in a condemned building and the smell of decay is infamous. As the city waits to transfer the lab to its new premises, those who work in this lab contend with broken ventilation, poor maintenance and flailing infrastructure. 

“It speaks to the passion for the job. We are all here because we want to make a difference. besides, you get used to the smell. The bodies don't always come in in a fresh state, we are used to it.”

But she draws the line at maggots and insects — that's where colleague Allison Gilbert, 37, forensic entomologist, head of the human decedent identification unit and associate lecturer at Wits, comes in.

“I'm an entomologist [an expert on insects] by trade but I also oversee the unidentified bodies and anthropology [where a specialist gathers important information based on the skeletal remains],” she said.

Gilbert's skills are in defleshing skeletons, cleaning the bones so they can be assessed by the Wits anatomy unit where there will be a formal analysis. In this way the unidentified remains will have a description in terms of age, race, sex and stature. They can also see if any trauma has been caused which may have contributed to the death of the person. 

The forensic department also works with police victim identification centre (VIC). Once details are gleaned from the bones, the VIC can use details like race and age to perform facial reconstruction to help families and authorities identify the remains.

Gilbert said she'd always liked forensics and did her school work experience at a forensic lab.

“Despite getting into medical school I didn't want to be a doctor. My second passion is insects. I like flies, they can be pretty nifty creatures and they've adapted to everything.”

Forensic entomologists study the insects found on or near the body. The types of insects and where they are in their life cycle can determine the time since death, how long the body has been in the position and if the body has been moved.

Using her interests as an example, Gilbert said almost any passion can be added to a forensic career. 

Forensic photographer Tracy Reindorp, 33, is an example of this. She started out as an art student but always had a fascination with forensics. Her career in the lab began in 2011 when she volunteered as a photographer taking photos at autopsy. In 2012 she began working at the lab full-time. 

Reindorp also performs X-rays on bodies to document foreign objects, like bullets.

Her images are a visual record and become evidence in the autopsy report, a document which can potentially form part of a court case.

“I wanted to provide a service and still be creative. I was always the weird kid in school so working here wasn't too much of an adjustment. There was an acclimatisation period but ultimately I make art out of what is not normally considered pretty.”

She said part of this process was getting used to the sights, sounds and smell of the lab. 

“I usually put a plastic bag over my dreads [dreadlocked hair] so I don't have to wash it every day [this style needs maintenance and is harder to dry after a wash],” one of the women says.

"#MortuaryProblems,” the three woman giggle as they recount other industry-specific issues they face.

“This job is not for everyone,” Gilbert said. “We had one student this year who had to leave.

“We call the students in before they begin their studies so they can view an autopsy, so they know what they are in for. We've had fainters — some get to the door and then faint. I've been puked on once. It's not glamorous like you see on TV, but you get used to it.”

Jenna van der Merwe said she believed the field was female-dominated because the men preferred doing the physical crime fighting. “They go into policing where there is more action and thrill. Women are more analytical and don't need the thrill aspect of the job.

“Women are not afraid to be behind the scenes.”

Imoné Louw agreed: “Nobody likes fingerprinting for 20 minutes — especially when it's a decomposing body. But then you remember why you're doing this.”

Reindorp said: “We don't struggle with manpower because we help each other with lifting the bodies. And dead weight is no joke.”

Besides working at the lab, Reindorp is also a Wits forensic medicine student. She is one of 14 in the all-women team of students.

Louw said with an all-woman team, they were able to motivate each other if someone was having a bad day or saw something triggering.

“It's easier to share with women and we've created a sense of community and a safe environment.”

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