A cloud of suspicion hangs over the death of Danish prisoner Peter Frederiksen at Mangaung Correctional Service Facility, a private prison managed by multinational security company G4S.
While G4S has reported Frederiksen's death as a heart attack, prisoners within the facility allege he was beaten to death by prison officials, raising serious concerns about the circumstances surrounding his passing.
Frederiksen, serving two life sentences for a string of crimes including rape and murder, was found dead in his cell last Sunday. He was known for his gruesome crimes, including the discovery of 21 packages containing parts of women's clitorises in his freezer in 2015.
Prisoners, speaking on condition of anonymity, claim that Frederiksen was assaulted by G4S officials around 17:30 to 18:00 last Sunday, leading to his death. One prisoner, who claims to have witnessed the assault, alleges that Frederiksen was beaten to death and that the G4S officials initially claimed he died of a heart attack before changing their story to say he collapsed and died.
"Firstly, the G4S officials said he died of a heart attack and then changed their story to say he collapsed and died. The Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services must investigate Frederiksen’s questionable death. He was killed," the prisoner stated.
The prisoner further alleges that the perpetrators returned to the scene of the crime on Monday morning to tamper with evidence.
"We saw the very same perpetrators coming from the front offices and going straight to the crime scene to tamper with it. We haven’t seen Department of Correctional Services officials or members of the police, even forensic officials or a doctor, going to the scene of the crime since," the prisoner said.
The prisoner also claims that the medical staff in the centre did not attend to the scene, and that Frederiksen's body was carried out by the perpetrators.
In response to these allegations, the Department of Correctional Services has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Frederiksen's death.
Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo confirmed the department's investigation, stating that the report before the department indicates that Frederiksen collapsed and was declared dead by a doctor on 15 September 2024.
"The Department of Correctional Services confirms having received a death notice of inmate Peter Frederiksen, incarcerated at Mangaung Correctional Centre. The report before the department indicates that the inmate collapsed and was declared dead by the doctor on 15 September 2024. Relevant structures were informed. The cause of death is yet to be determined. Therefore, we have launched an investigation in this regard," Nxumalo said.
The investigation into Frederiksen's death comes at a time when Mangaung Prison is already under scrutiny for its security lapses. In 2022, Thabo Bester, who was serving a life sentence for murder and rape, escaped from the maximum-security facility after faking his death by burning a body in a cell. Bester and his celebrity doctor girlfriend, Nandipha Magudumana, were arrested in Arusha, Tanzania, in April last year and deported back to South Africa, where they are facing trial for the string of crimes they allegedly committed.
The Bester escape exposed serious flaws in the security protocols at Mangaung Prison, raising questions about the effectiveness of G4S's management of the facility. The Department of Correctional Services, following the Bester escape, announced its intention to terminate the G4S contract and run the facility itself. However, G4S took the department to court to protect its multimillion rand contract.
The allegations of Frederiksen's assault and death further highlight the concerns surrounding the management of private prisons in South Africa. The Department of Correctional Services has a responsibility to ensure the safety and security of all prisoners, regardless of the nature of their crimes. The investigation into Frederiksen's death must be thorough and transparent, and any individuals found to be responsible for his death must be held accountable.
