Pretoria – The South African Police Service (SAPS) has prioritised the re-arrest of Thabo Bester “the Facebook Rapist” who escaped from prison by faking his own death using the body of someone else.
A day after the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) admitted that the GroundUp exposé on Bester’s elaborate escape was accurate, the SAPS National Commissioner General Fannie Masemola ordered the prioritisation of investigations into the Mangaung prison escape.
The SAPS said a manhunt has been launched for “all persons of interest in this particular case”.
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Commenting on Bester’s escape on Sunday, General Fannie Masemola said prioritising the probe into the escape and re-arrest of the escapee was “done in the best interest of justice for the victims, survivors, and the affected families”.
A communique from SAPS said detectives from the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences and the Organised Crime Investigations units in the Free State and Gauteng provinces have been working together around the clock on this investigation.
“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,” SAPS said.
“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.
“A case of escape from lawful custody was also registered on confirmation by the DCS that Thabo Bester was not in their custody.
“The likelihood of more charges being added cannot be ruled out as the investigation unfolds.”
SAPS said due to the sensitive nature of the investigations, General Masemola is appealing to the public for patience and that the detectives be allowed the space to conduct a thorough investigation.
“Placing undue pressure on the investigators and demanding blow-by-blow updates at this stage, has the potential to jeopardise the investigation,” said General Masemola.
Stung by the GroundUp exposé, the SAPS warned: “It should also be noted that the leaking of sensitive and confidential information to media houses is being looked into by authorities”.
However, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) was of a different view regarding the role of the media in exposing the escape.
“It is only now that the matter is reopened on the basis of media reports surrounding the whereabouts of Thabo Bester, which demonstrates that indeed the management of the centre tried to brush the matter under the carpet,” POPCRU said.
Bester’s cell caught alight before he escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Centre, which is contracted to G4S, a British multinational private security company on the 3rd of May 2022.
A body, burnt beyond recognition, was found under the bed, however, GroundUp has since revealed that it failed to match any of the Facebook Rapist’s features.
Bester was dubbed the Facebook Rapist because he used the social media platform to lure women with claims that international modelling scouts were interested in them.
He would then rape them and rob them using a knife. He murdered at least one of his victims.
POPCRU said Bester’s escape, “further raises questions as to whom the burnt body belongs, and how it found itself in Cell 35”.
The union questioned the level of responsibility the DCS takes in monitoring, and the functionality of controllers which it appoints to ensure that contractual obligations with these private prisons are not violated in line with the prescripts of the Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998.
POPCRU said the government spends almost R1 billion a year of taxpayers’ money on two private prisons which have around 5 952 inmates incarcerated one in Mangaung, Free State, and the other in Makhado, Limpopo owned and managed by local consortiums led by multinational British and U.S.A. companies.
“We are of the firm view that this escape, including multiple other misconducts and abuses reported over the years are mainly a consequence of the DCS having outsourced the functions of the states security to foreign-owned companies whose sole preoccupation is profit maximisation as opposed to the core mandate of rehabilitating inmates,” said POPCRU.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Times is reporting that Bester pulled off a second audacious escape from a house in a posh Johannesburg suburb, where he was said to have been hiding in plain sight.
Kaya 959 is reporting that Dr. Nandipha Magudumana has abandoned her luxury rented mansion, which the law now believes she was sharing with the Facebook Rapist.
Allegations are that Dr. Magudumana asked for Bester’s remains from the Manguang Correctional Services and claimed she was his customary wife.
The plot thickens.
