PODCAST | Ananias Mathe: highly skilled escape artist or common criminal?

Between 1999 and 2016, the legend of a Houdini-like prisoner haunted SA.

Ananias Mathe, a Mozambican national, arrived in South Africa in 1999. Almost immediately he began his criminal reign of terror — raping, robbing and attempting to murder in four provinces.

It would be Mathe’s actions in escaping incarceration, however, in addition to his violent crimes, that would lead to the public’s great interest in the man.

Mathe became the first man to escape from what was then Pretoria’s C-Max prison, one of two super-security level prisons in the country.

Listen to the story here: 

His ability to escape from one of the most secure buildings in SA was initially put down to his military training (and a little assistance from petroleum jelly), but as the Sunday Times would later reveal, all was not as it seemed.

In episode 70 of True Crime South Africa, we delve into the truth behind Mathe’s “legend”.

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