The recovery of a stolen bakkie recently took an unexpected turn when a Mpumalanga security company discovered a body inside a coffin in the back.

AG Solutions’ Albert Gryvenstein says his team received information regarding the stolen bakkie in the Ngodwana area, Mbomela on the evening of May 5.

“The team gave chase and managed to pull the vehicle over,” says Gryvenstein. He adds that local police were also at the scene.

“The two occupants in the bakkie were arrested, and the team started searching the vehicle. That is when they spotted a coffin in the back.”

Gryvenstein says it was initially thought there might be guns or other items hidden inside, however, when it was opened, the body of a man was found.

Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala confirms the incident and says the white Toyota bakkie had been reported stolen in Vosman. He says the body in the coffin was a family member of one of the suspects and that he had the correct documentation for the burial of the deceased.

It is unclear where the body was being transported to, or when the vehicle was originally stolen.

The two men made their first appearance in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on May 8 and the matter was postponed. They made another appearance last week Friday and, according to provincial NPA spokesperson Monica Nyuswa, the case was postponed to tomorrow for a formal bail application.