A getaway car and road blocks in Tanzania: 6 stories you need to read about Thabo Bester's escape & capture

Police say more arrests are expected in connection with “Facebook rapist” and murderer Thabo Bester's prison break.

This comes after police arrested two suspects at the weekend linked to Bester's escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein in May 2022. Among the accused is a former employee of the security company G4S.

Bester and his lover, Dr Nandipha Magudumana, were arrested last week in Tanzania, along with a Mozambican national, who was allegedly assisting them.

Following on from our first part where we delved into Bester and the aftermath of his escape, and our second where we looked at more details of his prison break, here are six more stories you need to read about the debacle:

A getaway car in Zimbabwe?

Days before the couple was arrested, a video taken last month showing Magudumana dining at a Johannesburg restaurant with what appears to be a colleague went viral. 

In it, three men — a private investigator, debt collector and a representative for a car dealership — can be seen sitting down at the table and telling Magudumana she has failed to make payments on a R1.35m Mercedes-Benz she bought in 2022.

Magudumana allegedly drove the luxurious Mercedes-Benz to Zimbabwe through the Beitbridge border post. The vehicle allegedly had fake Zimbabwean number plates and was abandoned before she returned to South Africa across the border on foot.

It is believed this was an attempt by Magudumana and Bester to have a getaway vehicle in Zimbabwe if they needed to escape from South Africa.

Bester and Magudumana spend Easter behind bars

The couple was arrested in Tanzania, 10km from the Kenyan border.

Briefing reporters at the weekend, police minister Bheki Cele said they were arrested with a Mozambican who allegedly aided them in their two-week-long run from authorities after news of Bester's escape surfaced.

Cele said it was discovered each of the suspects had several passports with them. He said police were yet to ascertain how they reached Tanzania.

“We received information last night at 10.07pm and we started working and converged today at 8am. Our forces, with the assistance of Interpol and crime intelligence have been working on the Bester case.

“The people [Bester and Magudumana] were spotted leaving their hotel in a black SUV by those working on the case. They followed them and found them with a third person, a Mozambican national, and they found various passports on them,” he said.

The police minister said a team had been dispatched to Tanzania to process the fugitives' return to South Africa.

Arrested by 'sheer chance'

Senior police sources close to the case told Sunday Times the couple was arrested by “sheer chance” due to a routine police roadblock on the road to the Kenyan border over the Easter long weekend. 

“We were not actively looking for the couple in that country because our intelligence informed us that they were either in Zimbabwe or Mozambique,” one of the sources said.

The source claimed when Magudumana and Bester were arrested on Friday they said they were on their way to Kenya for a holiday. 

“The police asked for identification and realised that the couple had entered Tanzania illegally,” the source said.

“Their passports didn’t have a stamp of entry and they had multiple passports. This raised an alarm and that is how they were detained. They only discovered who the couple were when they reached the police station and interrogated them.”

Three alleged stolen bodies

Weeks before Bester was alleged to have “burnt to death” in his prison cell, Magudumana allegedly stole three unidentified bodies from Free State mortuaries.

The bodies were illegally obtained over several weeks. Two of them are believed to have been earmarked for Bester’s previous failed prison break plans from Mangaung maximum-security prison. The third body, which was ultimately used as the decoy in Bester’s successful escape on May 3 last year, has still not been identified.

Sunday Times reported that a Free State health department source, who cannot be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed Magudumana was behind multiple body thefts.

“Nandipha first arrived at the Mangaung state mortuary claiming she was searching for a body. She was allowed to identify the body through a catalogue of photographs kept at the morgue. Because the body had been in the mortuary for a long time, we asked her to give us time to go through a pile of bodies in the storeroom.”

The source said Magudumana came back within a few days after officials requested time to track the corpse.

“She filled out the necessary forms for release and then left. She claimed it was her father, who was a truck driver and had been missing.”

Magudumana’s father arrested

Just hours after Magudumana and Bester were arrested, Magudumana’s father was apparently arrested by police.

TimesLIVE Premium reported that police visited her father's Port Shepstone home as they investigate any possible involvement or knowledge he may have in relation to three unknown bodies that were allegedly stolen by Magudumana from Free State mortuaries. 

According to a source close to investigations, four suspects were arrested over the weekend linked to Bester’s escape. Magudumana’s father was initially taken in for questioning but was later also arrested, according to the source.

He is expected to appear in court on Tuesday.

More arrests under way

National police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe said more arrests are expected after police arrested two suspects at the weekend.

The men are charged with aiding and abetting a convicted prisoner to escape from lawful custody.

“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 SAP, Lt-Gen Fannie Masemola, has welcomed the latest arrests and confirmed that the possibility of more arrests could not be ruled out.

“Masemola has again reiterated the appeal to the media and the public to exercise patience and allow the investigators the space to conduct the investigations with no undue pressure and expectation,” Mathe said. 

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