Weeks before fugitive Thabo Bester’s scam in which he “burnt to death” in his prison cell, his lover Nandipha Magudumana allegedly stole three unidentified bodies from Free State mortuaries.
The bodies were illegally obtained over several weeks. Two of them are believed to have been earmarked for Bester’s previous failed prison break plans from Mangaung maximum security prison. The third body, which was ultimately used as the decoy in Bester’s successful escape on May 3 last year, has still not been identified.
One body — which Magudumana allegedly secured after claiming it was her father — was dumped in a river a week after she took possession of it, still with the mortuary’s identification toe tag attached.
It was established Magudumana’s father is alive when he was interviewed by eNCA last month.
The couple, who were on the run after their R12m Hyde Park hideaway was exposed last month, were arrested in Tanzania on Friday night.
While police this week declined to comment on the bodies, sources say Magudumana is being investigated for stealing two bodies — one from the Mangaung state mortuary and another from a private mortuary — on different days in early April. The police investigation is also looking into how she was able to claim the body that was set alight in Bester’s cell as part of his escape ruse. That body was burnt beyond recognition.
Despite an autopsy raising several red flags — including that there was no smoke inhalation, the body was already in a state of decomposition and the cause of death was blunt force trauma — Magudumana was allowed to take the body, which she then cremated.
Bester made his escape dressed as a warder after the body was smuggled into the prison, and stored in the centre’s kitchen for two days before it was placed in his cell and burnt.
A key part of Bester’s escape plan was that he be moved to solitary confinement. This is where prisoners are held if they are a threat to other prisoners, or if a prisoner’s life is in danger. However, on at least one occasion, Bester’s request to move to solitary confinement — claiming he had received threats — failed.
It is believed this is why the initial bodies may have been dumped.
It was only when we unwrapped the body for the postmortem that we discovered it had a Bloemfontein body death register tag, which implied it had been kept here before
— Free State health department source
A Free State health department source, who cannot be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed Magudumana was behind multiple body thefts.
“Nandipha first arrived at the Mangaung state mortuary claiming she was searching for a body. She was allowed to identify the body through a catalogue of photographs kept at the morgue. Because the body had been in the mortuary for a long time, we asked her to give us time to go through a pile of bodies in the storeroom.
“We do not have enough space in the refrigerator, so they are kept in storeroom. The corpses are numbered, making it easier to track them down when someone claims them.”
He said they asked Magudumana to return within a few days so officials could have time to track the corpse.
“She came back, identified the body and filled out the necessary forms for release and then left. She claimed it was her father, who was a truck driver and had been missing.”
He said after two weeks they received a report that someone had drowned in Bloemspruit dam, 11km from the mortuary.
“It was only when we unwrapped the body for the postmortem that we discovered it had a Bloemfontein body death register tag, which implied it had been kept here before.”
He said the number on the tag was still visible.
“We discovered it was the same body identified by Nandipha. We reported the matter to the police.”
He said they had not known what had happened after that until news broke of Bester’s escape and Magudumana’s involvement.
“That is when we realised the cases are linked. We have been forced to tighten up our measures on how people identify and claim unknown persons.”
There was no truth to his [Bester's] claims. He was there for three days and then transferred back. It’s now being investigated as to how he managed to get back into that section, who approved the transfer, and why
— Correctional services source
A police source said it was believed Magudumana had the body dumped after Bester was transferred back to a communal cell.
“The problem is it was not expected to be found and traced back to the mortuary where she was identified as having previously claimed it.”
A correctional services source said Bester’s safety concerns, which he provided as reasons for his first application to be transferred to solitary confinement, had been discovered to be unfounded.
“There was no truth to his claims. He was there for three days and then transferred back. It’s now being investigated as to how he managed to get back into that section, who approved the transfer, and why.”
After the prison fire, the charred body was taken to Mollys Funeral Home in Mangaung and then transported to Sopema Funeral Services in Soweto on Magudumana’s instructions. It was subsequently seized by police and moved to the Hillbrow morgue, but on May 24, after an urgent court application, it was released to Magudumana.
She then had it cremated it after what her lawyer Vuyo Manisi said was a “confidential out of court agreement” between her lawyers and police.
An email written on May 12 by Brig Jackson Mkhaulesi, head of the Free State organised crime unit, to a Lt-Col Zwedzi of Orlando West detective branch, requests urgent assistance to stop the cremation.
In his email, which TimesLIVE Investigations has seen, Mkhaulesi, who declined to comment, revealed the burnt body was “claimed and identified by a person who pretended to be a family member”.
“She identified the deceased as her biological father. Her name is Nandipha Magudumana. The body was released to her ... On Tuesday, May 10, the investigating officer discovered that Nandipha claimed two other bodies.”
The police source said: “A private parlour is being probed. Detectives are trying to establish how she came to have this body, which she is not related to and which she had no right to claim. She is being investigated for also falsely claiming the burnt body from the Mangaung state mortuary. It is not yet known where this body originally came from as it has been cremated.”
He declined to name the private mortuary for fear of jeopardising the investigation.
Police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe declined to comment on the bodies.
Magudumana’s lawyer, Manisi, did not respond to questions.
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