MANIINI - The Executive Funeral Service based in Venda is in hot water after dead bodies of human beings were found in the cold storage of a building that was registered as a café. The discovery was made last Wednesday.

The boss of Executive Funeral Service, Mrs Gloria Nenzhelele (34), said that it was true that the building that was being utilized as a mortuary was registered as a café. She also agreed move her operation to the new building that is registered as a mortuary at the Shayandima residential area.

Nenzhelele said she put the dead bodies in cold storage in the café because the new buildings at Shayandima have not yet been electrified. She said that her mortuary business has been operating in the business registered as café since December last year. She also confirmed that she had been given 72 hours to move from their café to the mortuary.

Health and Welfare officials found five bodies in the cold storage of the shop.

The police went to the scene and issued a report of their findings to the Director of Public Prosecutions in Thohoyandou. They are still waiting for his decision.

According to Nenzhelele, she employs 49 people. "My business started in 2001 as a brokerage and changed to a mortuary in 2003," she said.