Dr Nandipha Magudumana’s father was apparently arrested by police on Saturday after his daughter’s arrest in Tanzania, according to a source close to the investigations.
Magudumana, her lover fugitive Thabo Bester and a Mozambican national were arrested in Tanzania, about 10km from the Kenyan border.
TimesLIVE Premium has learnt that police visited her father's Port Shepstone home as they investigate any possible involvement or knowledge he may have in relation to three unknown bodies that were allegedly stolen by Magudumana from Free State mortuaries.
The Sunday Times revealed Magudumana allegedly stole three bodies from the mortuaries as part of Bester’s audacious escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre.
According to a source close to investigations, four suspects were arrested over the weekend linked to Bester’s escape. Magudumana’s father was initially taken in for questioning but was later also arrested, according to the source.
He is expected to appear in court on Tuesday.
“That’s when he was informed about Nandi’s arrest — when he was taken in for questioning. We understand that there are monies that he contributed towards the bodies stolen from the morgues, but we are investigating and trying to see how he fits into the whole scheme,” the source said.
Asked for comment, police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe said: “The SAPS will provide an update into further arrests when time permits. Putting undue pressure on the SAPS investigators to provide blow by blow updates is not in the best interest of our investigations which are at a sensitive stage.”
During a media briefing on Saturday, police minister Bheki Cele confirmed that Magudumana had claimed three bodies from Free State mortuaries.
Cele said police were investigating those cases.
“She claimed that one of the bodies was her father, the other she claimed that it was her brother and the other one she claimed was her husband. It is something that we are looking into,” said Cele.
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.
While police this week declined to comment on the bodies, sources say Magudumana was 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.
A Free State health department source, who cannot be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed to the Sunday Times that 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,” 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,” the man told the Sunday Times.
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