Thabo Bester, the Facebook rapist and fraudster, can be seen on video laughing uncontrollably from his prison cell dressed in a suit while live streaming the launch of the sham company 21st Century Media that he set up with businesswoman Phumudzo Thenga, who was allegedly also hoodwinked by him.
Bester escaped from the Mangaung prison facility in 2022 in one of the most audacious prison escapes in South African history. The department of correctional services has admitted that a body found in his cell — which was burnt beyond recognition — was not Bester's.
In a stunning revelation, GroundUp released evidence that showed Bester, who was serving a life sentence for murder, was running multimillion-rand businesses from his prison cell.
Thenga was linked to Bester in a recent GroundUp story that revealed she was the sole director of 21st Century Media — which was behind the sham “Women in Media” conference — which Bester apparently ran as a scam business while imprisoned at the Mangaung correctional centre.
Bester is reported to have posed as a “chairman” of the media company, which claimed to be a subsidiary of American media giant 21st Century Fox.
In the video which captured the launch of the sham company, Bester can be seen on screen, being sung happy birthday to by the crowd as he laughs from his prison cell. They sing “Happy birthday dear Tom” as he was using the alias Tom Motsepe at the time.
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WATCH | Thabo Bester laughs hysterically from prison cell at glamorous sham event
Thabo Bester, the Facebook rapist and fraudster, can be seen on video laughing uncontrollably from his prison cell dressed in a suit while live streaming the launch of the sham company 21st Century Media that he set up with businesswoman Phumudzo Thenga, who was allegedly also hoodwinked by him.
Bester escaped from the Mangaung prison facility in 2022 in one of the most audacious prison escapes in South African history. The department of correctional services has admitted that a body found in his cell — which was burnt beyond recognition — was not Bester's.
In a stunning revelation, GroundUp released evidence that showed Bester, who was serving a life sentence for murder, was running multimillion-rand businesses from his prison cell.
Thenga was linked to Bester in a recent GroundUp story that revealed she was the sole director of 21st Century Media — which was behind the sham “Women in Media” conference — which Bester apparently ran as a scam business while imprisoned at the Mangaung correctional centre.
Bester is reported to have posed as a “chairman” of the media company, which claimed to be a subsidiary of American media giant 21st Century Fox.
In the video which captured the launch of the sham company, Bester can be seen on screen, being sung happy birthday to by the crowd as he laughs from his prison cell. They sing “Happy birthday dear Tom” as he was using the alias Tom Motsepe at the time.
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
MORE
Thabo Bester did not die in fire, he is at large, correctional services confirms
I'm a victim of Thabo Bester: former 21st Century Media director Phumudzo Thenga
Thabo Bester: from jail cell to million-rand mansions
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