A 39–year-old former G4S employee and a 65-year-old man are expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court today in connection with Thabo Bester’s escape from prison.
According to the South African Police Service (SAPS) national spokesperson, Athlenda Mathe, a multi-disciplinary team investigating Bester’s escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre arrested the duo at the weekend.
Mathe said the former G4S employee was arrested at his residence in Bloemfontein on Saturday, 8 April 2023, while the 65-year-old man was arrested on Friday, 7 April 2023, at his home in Port Edward, KwaZulu-Natal.
“Both suspects have been charged with aiding and abetting a convicted prisoner to escape from lawful custody,” the statement read.
G4S is a multinational security company that operated and partly-owned Mangaung Correctional Centre, where Bester was incarcerated.
GroundUp recently broke the story about the escape of rapist and murderer Bester in May 2022.
The fugitive Bester, his girlfriend Dr Nandipha Magudumana and a third person believed to be a Mozambican national were arrested on Friday night in Tanzania, close to the Kenyan border.
Mathe announced that a delegation led by the SAPS Deputy National Commissioner responsible for Policing, Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili, has arrived in Arusha, Tanzania.
“The team is currently engaged with their Tanzanian counterparts to finalise all legal processes required towards bringing escapee Thabo Bester and his accomplices to justice in South Africa.”
The National Commissioner of the SAPS, General Fannie Masemola, according to the spokesperson, has welcomed the latest arrests and said the possibility of more arrests could not be ruled out.
The 65-year-old is believed to be Magudumana’s father.
“General Masemola has again reiterated the appeal to media and the public to exercise patience and allow the investigators the space to conduct the investigations with no undue pressure and expectation.”
The Correctional Services National Commissioner, Makgothi Thobakgale, announced last month the appointment of a Temporary Manager for the correctional facility.
According to the Correctional Services’ findings following their investigation, Bester was assisted to escape from lawful custody on 3 May 2022, yet the contractor maintains that he died in his cell.
Thobakgale said a private vehicle was allowed inside the facility without a gate pass on the day of the escape, possibly carrying an unknown body that was burnt beyond recognition in his cell.
“Tampering with surveillance cameras points to a failed monitoring system deliberately orchestrated to conceal crucial evidence and individuals who aided Bester to escape.
“This is also a failure to guarantee safe custody of inmates and a breach in terms of the responsibilities allocated to the contractor,” Thobakgale said at a media briefing in March.