Two men, aged 38 and 24, were taken into police custody on Friday, 12 June, in Nqanqarhu after two corpses were discovered in the back of the grey Mercedes Benz panel van, they were driving.
According to police spokesperson, Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana, earlier on the same day police received information about a vehicle with dead bodies inside, travelling towards KwaBhaca.
“A chase was initiated, but the vehicle was not immediately located. Between 07:30 and 08:00, the vehicle was found parked outside a supermarket. Officers attended and brought the vehicle and its two occupants to the station. The driver granted permission to search the vehicle. Upon opening the rear, two dead bodies wrapped in white plastic bags with blood were found,” said Gantana.
According to police, the driver claimed that they were transporting corpses from Cape Town funeral parlours to mortuaries in Kwa Bhaca.
“A third corpse, from a funeral parlour in Gqeberha, had already been dropped off at a parlour in Kwa Bhaca before the vehicle was stopped. Enquiries confirmed the two bodies recovered originated from the Cape Town mortuaries,” said Gantana.
An Environmental Health Practitioner was called to the scene and issued a fine of R1000 to both the driver and passenger, for not being in possession of a certificate of competence which is a contravention of the National Health Act and Regulation R363.
“No formal criminal charges have been laid at this stage. The two recovered bodies were taken to a local mortuary in Nqanqarhu for safekeeping. Relatives have been summoned to identify the bodies. The two suspects remain in police custody,” concluded Gantana.