It was in the Kopano Nokeng River in Bloemfontein that one of the bodies allegedly stolen by Dr Nandipha Magudumana was found floating, just weeks after she claimed it at the Bloemfontein government mortuary as her father.
A funeral parlour collected the body, which was then found in a river on 29 April 2022.
It is alleged that Magudumana, the girlfriend of convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester, stole three bodies from Free State mortuaries to aid her lover’s escape, one of which she claimed was her father.
The SABC News team tracked down the man who found the body when he was collecting wood in his brother’s yard, which is next to the river.
“I find it over there it was in a K-Way sleeping bag. I was busy picking up wood. I saw something strange and I opened it and I called the police,”
A neighbour says they found the discovery to be suspicious at the time, not knowing it would feature in the case of one of South Africa’s most daring jailbreaks.
The four accused in aiding the escape from jail of Thabo Bester, are expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Monday. This includes Magudumana, who faces four charges relating to murder, aiding & abetting an escape, fraud and violation of dead bodies.
Witnesses who found the body allegedly stolen by Dr Magudumana speak out:
Additional reporting by PEARL MAGUBANE
