"Clearly there is something illegal happening there and we are getting the police to assist in the investigation," said Gauteng health spokesman Simon Zwane.

On Tuesday, the Sowetan reported that dead bodies from the hospital were being sold to unregistered funeral undertakers by the mortuary staff.

According to the paper, undertakers paid staff R50 for a list detailing the deceased patients' names and their next-of-kin details.

They then use the list to contact their family members and accompany them to the hospital to collect the body and have the body released to the undertakers for burial. They paid R150 for each body. The Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA in Gauteng said it was "disgusted" and "deeply disturbed" by the practice. "We call on Bara management to act decisively and urgently in dealing with the matter," said spokesman Simphiwe Gada.

"This clearly demonstrates the greedy nature of capitalism, where people capitalise on other people's loss, driven by capitalist desires and greed."