A bizarre tale of mixed-up corpses and shoddy police work has relatives in an uproar following the deaths of two men at the Lindela repatriation camp near Krugersdorp.
The cavaders of the men were swopped, a material witness was hurriedly deported and police have not taken a statement from a key eyewitness.
The bungling and fears of a cover-up have sparked a diplomatic row, with the Nigerian embassy demanding a proper investigation.
At the centre of the mix-up is the Lindela repatriation centre, where, on March 10, Nigerian Ikechukwu Obiakor was allegedly murdered and Malawian Hameed Manesi died of what the Department of Home Affairs called natural causes.
But The Star obtained post-mortem photographs of both bodies, which indicate that Manesi was also beaten up.
Obiakor's body was swapped with Manesi's - even though it was clearly marked in the mortuary - and released by the police to relatives of the Malawian, a who buried him in Lenasia.
Even as they buried him, Manesi's friends were unsure if they had the right body. The mix-up was discovered when Obiakor's friends arrived to collect his body.
The corpse had already been given a pauper's burial, so they demanded to see the photographs of the body that had been buried. They immediately realised that the wrong corpse had been put into the wrong grave.
Some of the unanswered questions arising from The Star's probe include:
- Why was no investigation launched into the cause of Manesi's death based on the visible trauma to his body? And why did Home Affairs say he had died of natural causes?
- Why did police release the wrong body, when all corpses were clearly marked?
- Why was Sylvenos Mmaduka, a key witness in the death of the Nigerian, deported to Nigeria before investigators could take a statement from him?
- Why has a statement not been taken from a second witness, who lives in Hillbrow?
Now the Nigerian embassy and the family of Manesi are demanding that both bodies be exhumed so that the mix-up can be resolved. They are also demanding a thorough investigation into the men's deaths.
Investigating officer Detective Inspector David Makoko says he is concerned about securing a conviction because of the deportation. Five men and a woman, all employees of Lindela, have been charged with the murder of Obiakor.
Makoko has asked the Nigerian consulate to locate Mmaduka, "a principal witness". Makoko wrote in his request: "He was hurriedly deported back to Nigeria before his crucial statement could be taken."
Makoko has confirmed that he believes the wrong man was buried in Lenasia.
But another witness, Omega Okafor, is not impressed with Makoko. Okafor says he told police he saw Obiakor being beaten and shot at close range, but police had refused to bring him to the identity parade of the official who allegedly took part in the fatal assault.
They also had not taken a statement from him, even though he had spoken to the police about what he saw.
Makoko said the official had become a state witness. He also said he had spoken to Okafor, but the Directorate of Public Prosecutions would decide if he would be a witness.
Kingsley Nnabuagha, chairperson of a Nigerian pressure group, Orlu Zonal Union International (Ozui), said: "We want them to exhume the remains of our brother, conduct a new postmortem and foot the bill to send his corpse back to Nigeria, where he will be given a traditional farewell in accordance with our traditions."
Attorney Lue Kannieeappan, who is acting for Ozui, said the organisation would also be taking legal action against the Immigration Department, the Lindela camp, the security company guarding Lindela, and the security officers accused of murdering Obiakor.
Manesi's friend, Dr Goolam Seedat, said the body they buried was so disfigured that friends and family were unsure if they were burying the right body.
But he had his doubts: "When I saw the face, I said 'this is not Hameed!' He lived with me for four years. I knew him. But people around me at the funeral overruled me."
Seedat also challenged claims that the Malawian died of natural causes.
"He was a healthy man. I could testify in court. On the day he died, he phoned me from Lindela, saying: 'Doctor, please come fetch me. They are going to kill me.' On the day he was picked up by the police, he was supposed to go and distribute charity money to the poor. He was very likeable. Now they've killed him. He has left his wife and five daughters in Malawi."
Home Affairs spokesperson Leslie Mashokwe promised that the matter would be investigated.
West Rand police spokesperson Superintendent Milica Bezuidenhout said the people who had claimed Obiakor's body, mistaking it for Manesi's, were responsible for the mix-up.