By Thys Khiba – The National Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), General Fannie Masemola has asked the public and media to be patient as police investigate the rapist Thabo Bester saga.
Speaking about the sensitive nature of the matter, Masemolaindicated that undue pressure from the public has a potential to jeopardise the matter.
“Placing undue pressure on the investigators and demanding blow-by-blow updates at this stage, has the potential to jeopardise the investigation,” said Masemola.
Masemola has instructed police officials to prioritiseinvestigations into the Mangaung prison escape case.
Fannie Masemola: Give police space to investigate Thabo Bester
According police national spokesperson, Brigadier AthlendaMathe this approach is taken in the best interest of justice for the victims, survivors, and the affected families.
“Detectives from the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) and the Organised Crime Investigations (OCI) units in the Free State and Gauteng provinces have been working together around the clock on this investigation,” said Mathe.
This comes after GroundUp revealed that Bester escaped from prison and was seen in Sandton shopping at a supermarket two months after he was apparently burnt to death.
“A case of murder is under investigation following the outcome of the DNA analysis that confirmed that the body of the deceased which was found was not of Thabo Bester.
“The autopsy report went on to further reveal that the deceased had died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head, and was already dead, prior to the arson incident,” said Mathe.
The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) admitted that Thabo Bester was not in their custody.
The likelihood of more charges being added cannot be ruled out as the investigation unfolds.
It should also be noted that the leaking of sensitive and confidential information to media houses is being looked into by authorities.
“To this end, a manhunt has been launched for all persons of interest in this particular case.”
CENTRAL NEWS
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