Thys Khiba: Editor-In-Chief – Murder and rapist Thabo Bester and his partner Dr Nandipha Magudumana have exposed weaknesses and gaps in the South African Police Service (SAPS), the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), the Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services (Jics), the Department of Home Affairs and G4S company.
Ordinary and extraordinary South African citizens were supposed to be informed about the 18 October 2022 meeting of SAPS, DCS, and Jics.
On 18 October 2022, police told the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) and the Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services (Jics) that Bester escaped from Mangaung Correctional Centre (MCC), on 3 May 2022.
The government departments failed to act after knowing that Bester escaped from the MCC as early as October 2022.
It is revealed in the documents given to the Parliamentary Committee on Correctional Services on Wednesday by G4S, DCS, SAPS and Jics that Minister Ronald Lamola knew of Bester escape.
Fannie Masemola: Give police space to investigate Thabo Bester
On 29 April 2022: A vehicle was driven into the facility without a gate pass.
On 30 April 2022: Bester was transferred to a single cell, after he applied to do so for his own safety. The application has been approved by G4S.
On 3 May 2022: Thabo Bester is reported dead after a fire breaks out his cell. It was reported by G4S and DCS as a suicide.
On the next day, a post-mortem was conducted on the body found in the cell, revealing that the person was dead before the fire broke out.
In what appears as Netflix show, on 5 May 2022: Jics starts investigating the unnatural death of Thabo Bester.
0n 6 May 2022: Dr Magudumana collects the body from Free State morgue and transports it to a Soweto mortuary.
Police started to investigate murder after receiving the autopsy report.
Between 13 May 2022 and 19 May 2022, SAPS and Magudumana went to court for the body that was confiscated by police from Magudumana’s custody.
She approached the Pretoria high court asking for the body to be returned to her. Magudumana claimed to be Bester’s customary law wife.
The Inspecting Judge for Correctional Services, Justice Edwin Cameron wrote to the DCS Minister Ronald Lamola:
“There are indications that, with the collusion of G4S employees and others, a fire was staged in the single cell of one Thabo Bester (the notoriously named so-called ‘Facebook rapist’) and a corpse was smuggled into the cell with the objective of faking inmate Bester’s death and facilitating his escape.”
On Wednesday, a multinational security company, G4S told Parliament that the prison’s records shows that Bester visited an outside specialist five times in 2015 and once in 2016.
This comes after it was alleged that Bester visited Dr Magudumana at the Bloemfontein hotel.
It is reported that the couple allegedly spent more than R120 000 on hotel bookings.
He often required mental health treatment and prisoners would occasionally have to go to an external hospital for such treatment.
The police were informed of an invoice for a luxury hotel in Bloemfontein over a week ago.
From 25 May 2022 to 11 August 2022, police investigating officer made a sworn statement to indicate suspicious circumstances surrounding the fire.
The G4S provided SAPS with information including CCTV footage, visit records, and other details. Police conducted DNA analysis, comparing the body found in the cell to Bester’s mother. The DNA did not match.
A sample of Thabo Bester’s actual DNA could not be found in the SAPS DNA database.
On 10 August 2022: Police provides copies of the autopsy report and DNA tests to Jics. Jics finalises its preliminary report.
On 11 August 2022: Based on the findings of the report, Jicsprepares an office note, recording that Bester did not die in his cell.
On 15 August 2022, G4S told Jics that crucial video evidence is missing.
Police failed to arrest an official named Senohe Matsoara after an intimate wrote to the Free State high court, alleging that Bester escaped from prison with his (an official) help.
The mentioned former G4S official appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on 11 April 2023.
On 18 October 2022: A crucial meeting takes place between Jics, DCS and SAPS. Police indicates that there is reason to believe Bester faked his death and escaped. DCS does not hand over its report. SAPS asks Jics to help it get the support of the Hawks.
GroundUp published on 8 November 2022, article tilted “Many mysteries surround the death of ‘Facebook rapist’ Thabo Bester.”
It is only on 25 March, DCS confirmed to the public that Bester escaped from prison.
While Minister Bheki Cele failed to arrest Bester while in the country, Tanzanian authorities arrested him and his partner DrMagudumana on 7 April 2023.
The embarrassing arrest came after 11 months of his escape. As someone was sleeping on his job, it appears that efforts to arrest Bester only started on 24 March after details of Bester’s escape were uncovered by GroundUp.
Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoalediconfirmed the department did not receive any information to suggest that Bester and Magudumana had crossed any border legally.
Motsoaledi indicated that Bester was never officially documented as a South African citizen with Home Affairs.
Motsoaledi suggested that Bester’s mother, Maria Mabaso was never able to register Bester after giving birth to him at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on 13 June 1986.
Instead of taking responsibility, Motsoaledi assumed that Bester was advised not to register with Home Affairs by criminals.
“I think he fell into the hands of criminals who are known to use young kids, whose fingerprints do not exist in home affairs, because your fingerprints only starts existing on our system when you are 16. My thinking is, somebody warned him ‘Don’t go anywhere near Home Affairs. Wherever you steal, your fingerprints will not be found,” said Motsoaledi.
Thys Khiba – Editor
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