A backlog at the country’s National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) is threatening the financial future of a Pretoria widow and her two children.
Kogi Sing faces repossession of a flat in central London because the estate of her late husband, Midesh, who died en route to Raslouw Private Hospital in Pretoria in May 2024, is frozen.
Doctors were unable to rule on the cause of death after he collapsed at home — he was rushed to hospital in a neighbour’s car and not by ambulance — and police were called in to rule out foul play.
But an 18-month delay in obtaining the toxicology report from the NHLS has meant police haven’t been able to close the investigation and issue a death certificate, shutting the family off from accessing the estate or finding out its worth.
Now the UK bank HSBC is demanding that Sing settle the more than £342,000 (about R7.4m) outstanding on the flat the couple lived in while Midesh worked in London for several years before returning to South Africa, or it will initiate court proceedings to repossess it.
Sing said local lawyers have not been able to access her late husband’s estate or assess its value without the death certificate.
This delay has upended our lives and traumatised us so much, especially the children. Losing their father was bad enough, but we had to move from our home on an estate and downsize because school fees are a priority. The school has been very flexible and helpful in light of my financial situation, and I recently got a job in aftercare in the afternoon.”
— Kogi Sing
Estate lawyers have also pointed out that she could face future action from them should the estate not hold enough value to cover their fees.
Sing says she has hit brick walls trying to get answers from both the NHLS and police as to why the results have not been finalised.
In August the NHLS said that following “media coverage and public apprehensions regarding delays in toxicology service” it was pushing for a 50% reduction of its 40,051 case backlog by the 2025/2026 financial year.
To do this, the NHLS said it procured new high-output analytical instruments — exclusively designated for backlog samples — for its laboratories in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town and hired extra technical staff to ensure they didn’t interfere with new cases.
But months later, Sing was told to stop calling and deal only with the investigating officer.
This week NHLS communications head Mzi Gcukumana said the case “required three separate toxicological analyses: drugs of abuse, carbon monoxide and alcohol. The analysis is now at an advanced stage and is being finalised to ensure accuracy, completeness and legal defensibility.”
He said the report should be available soon.
The government facility’s backlog is compounded by historic financial challenges. Last year the NHLS was owed R7bn, with Gauteng being the biggest culprit, owing R1.9bn. The Eastern Cape owed R1.3bn. Gcukumana said as of January 31, provincial debt had risen to R11.3bn.
Gauteng police spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo did not respond to queries about the delay.
“This delay has upended our lives and traumatised us so much, especially the children,” said Sing. “Losing their father was bad enough, but we had to move from our home on an estate and downsize because school fees are a priority. The school has been very flexible and helpful in light of my financial situation, and I recently got a job in aftercare in the afternoon.”
The cross-border reality of modern families means that inefficiencies in one jurisdiction reverberate globally. A two-year delay in issuing a death certificate can expose a widow and her children to foreclosure risk, refinancing barriers and spiralling professional costs in another country — as it has done in this very sad case
— Bavani Naidu, UK solicitor
Sing said the investigating officer told her she was just a number and there were several other cases like hers.
“I have my family as a support system, but there are many others who don’t have this,” she said. “What happens to them? This whole experience has left us shattered.”
UK solicitor Bavani Naidu, who was engaged by Sing, said delays in the issuing of final death certificates in South Africa are “not merely administrative inconveniences — they are causing real financial harm to families with assets abroad”.
“Middle-class, hard-working families who work abroad and return to their home in South Africa are almost penalised due to the unnecessary administrative delays on deceased estates,” Naidu said.
“In England, property held as joint tenants [community of property in South Africa] passes automatically on death to the surviving spouse. However, institutions like HM Land Registry require sight of an official death certificate before updating the legal title. Without it, the deceased remains on the register, creating uncertainty and, in some cases, triggering avoidable disputes with lenders and financial institutions.
“Kogi Sing has been unduly placed in a very unfortunate financial and legal predicament in England because the death certificate cannot be issued until investigations are completed. As a result of the unnecessary delay with the issuance of the death certificate, she cannot access any pension, policies or bank accounts holding any assets in England. This has cost her thousands of pounds of which she has had to rely on the financial support of her family.
“The cross-border reality of modern families means that inefficiencies in one jurisdiction reverberate globally. A two-year delay in issuing a death certificate can expose a widow and her children to foreclosure risk, refinancing barriers and spiralling professional costs in another country — as it has done in this very sad case."
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