Cape Town – Seven officials at the privately run G4S Mangaung Correctional Centre in the Free State have been suspended following the murder of inmate Mpho Mkhumbeni, who died in hospital on 12 March after being pepper-sprayed and beaten during an unauthorised raid.
Mkhumbeni, serving a life sentence for murder, was accused along with his cellmates of stealing R800 from a member of the prison’s dedicated search team, The Citizen reported.
A post-mortem confirmed his death was unnatural, caused by pepper spray complications and blunt force trauma, leading to the case being classified as murder, the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said during an interview with Newzroom Afrika.
“We had to conduct an investigation after having received a report from Mangaung Correctional Centre which is operated by a contractor called G4S where this inmate collapsed and dies. And they gave us an indication that it’s natural death. So as a department, we said we can’t just take it as is, we need to investigate if indeed this is due to natural causes,” Nxumalo said.
The Correctional Services Department has confirmed that the death of an inmate at Mangaung prison wasn’t from natural causes. Commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale says Mpho Mkhumbeni, who was serving life, died due to pepper spray exposure. Department spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo… pic.twitter.com/k9pPfu2NJ4
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) April 16, 2025
“And when we started to do our investigation, different versions were being provided by the officials who conducted a search a night before and what was given to us was that even that searching exercise did not involve the temporary manager that is appointed by Correctional Services who ought to have been part of that searching exercise.
“So the red flags were there already. And it moved on now to say let us wait for postmortem results, which then when they came back, theyr were clearly stating that this inmate was exposed to pepper-spray but there was also blunt force trauma – meaning that there was some form of assault that was applied.
“It was, therefore, clear that it is not a natural cause when you look at the indication in terms of the cause of death but an unnatural one, hence, that inquest had to be then changed to a murder case which the SAPS is investigating.”
The DCS criticised G4S and its staff for trying to cover up the incident, accusing them of defeating the ends of justice.
Among those suspended are the operations manager, a security supervisor, and five DST officials.
The incident adds to growing scrutiny of the Mangaung facility following the 2022 escape of Thabo Bester, the so-called Facebook Rapist.
DCS is pursuing legal action to terminate the 22-year contract with Bloemfontein Correctional Contracts (BCC), the private company responsible for the prison’s operations.
