Ministers give update on escapee Thabo Bester and his partner in crime

12 April 2023 - 21:59
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Police minister Bheki Cele and his justice counterpart Ronald Lamola are on Thursday providing an update on the deportation of convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester and his alleged accomplice and girlfriend, Dr Nandipha Magudumana. 

This comes five days after an official South African delegation comprising senior officials from the police, justice and correctional services, and home affairs went to  Tanzania to meet their counterparts to engage on the process required to bring back Bester and Magudumana.

Bester and Magudumana were arrested in Tanzania on Friday, 10km from the Kenyan border.

On Tuesday, Zolile Cornelius Sekeleni, father of Magudumana, and a co-accused, former G4S prison warder Senohe Matsoara, appeared in the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court charged with aiding and abetting Bester in his audacious escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre last year.

They are also accused of arson, fraud and defeating the ends of justice.

Magudumana’s father, 65, was arrested at the weekend at his Port Edward home, while the former prison warder, 39, was arrested in Bloemfontein by a multidisciplinary team investigating Bester’s escape.

On Wednesday police confirmed the arrest of yet another suspect  — a G4S employee — for his alleged involvement in Bester's escape.

They also confirmed that a 28-year-old man was taken in for questioning in the North West after he was found in possession of Magudumana's Porsche.

The person is yet to be charged.

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