Saturday | April 8, 2023
The convicted “Facebook rapist” and killer “Thabo Bester” has been apprehended in Tanzania with his partner Doctor Nandipha Magudumana and a Mozambican citizen who assisted them to escape from the South African authorities, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Ronald Lamola and the Minister of Police Bheki Cele announced on Saturday April 8, 2023.
The escapees were arrested by Tanzanian authorities after the activation of the wanted persons on the International Police (Interpol).
They were arrested in Arusha as they were leaving a hotel in Dar es Salaam headed to another border (10 kilometres away to Kenyan border) with several unstamped passports, confirmed Cele.
Bester escaped a prison in Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein, Free State last year in May where he was serving a life sentence for rape and killing. He lured his victims through Facebook – hence dubbed the “Facebook rapist”.
It emerged that Bester fabricated his death caused by a staged fire in his prison cell. As it turned out, there was a corpse that was smuggled in custody to replace him. A DNA report proved that the corpse did not match Bester’s identity. The examination of the burnt body emerged after Bester was spotted doing shopping in Sandton, a suburb in Johannesburg.
To give credence to this bizarre cock up, authorities pronounced that Thabo Bester had died from a fire incident in jail. Meanwhile while he and his accomplices, not least Dr Magudumana, orchestrated the whole charade.
To make up for their embarrassment, the South African authorities unleashed the full might of the law apparatus. Thus, a manhunt ensued.
The security detail searched the premises believed to be hidden in Johannesburg. News24 revealed that a watch valued at R1,5 million was discovered. Last Thursday, the government deployed yet another erratic team of forensic experts to rummage and examine Bester and Dr Magudumana’ sprawling rented mansion.
There is a further charge of murder related to a burnt body found in Bester’s cell which the South African authorities confirmed it was hit by a blunt in the head. They highlighted that it showed that the deceased was dead before set alight nor mysteriously sneaked in prison.
Cele emphasised that the burnt body was brought into the cell and a further probe to the cause of death is underway.
Extradition or deportation
The SA government, through the Minister of Justice and Police assured the public that Tanzania apprehended Bester and his partner and an accomplice of Mozambican descent. To avoid the recent damp squib of deportation cases, they reiterated that the process of bringing Bester and Dr Magudumana in particular, will be swift.
Even so, the Police Commission Lieutenant Fannie Masemola in tow with the both ministers, was noncommittal about the time frame.
Minister Lamola confirmed that a delegation from South Africa will be sent to Tanzania to handle the deportation matter as “speedily as possible”. Dr Magudumana will face a charge of helping Bester to escape prison, he added.
Masemola stressed that the assembled team will leave Sunday morning to Tanzania and will, among other issues, investigate how they were travelling as well as related shenanigans.
Minister Lamola was asked to clear the air concerning the extradition sought from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the Gupta family embroiled in State Capture in SA and “Prophet Bushiri” who fled the country to his native Malawi while on bail in 2022. The Minister responded by saying that the difference between the Gupta family and Bhushiri is that Bester was convicted and it is a clear case of deportation. The former have to face trial in the countries where they escaped to and extradition should follow, Lamola explained.
The Justice Minister indicated that the matter of G4S, a private company contracted by government to run the notorious prison in Mangaung, is “highest level of dereliction of duty” and its contract is expiring in 2026. In the meantime, he said, the prison is managed by a manager deployed by the SA government but the lawyers are dealing with the relationship with the contractor.