Johannesburg - The Minister of Police and Minister of Justice and Correctional Services have confirmed that escapee “Facebook rapist” Thabo Bester was arrested in Tanzania on Friday evening, along with his accomplice, Dr Nandipha Magudumana and a Mozambican national.
The Police Ministry and Justice and Correctional Services Ministry released a joint statement confirming the news of the arrests.
“We have confirmed with all the relevant authorities in Tanzania, which includes the National Commissioner of Police in Tanzania and Interpol, that the fugitives are being processed.
“An official delegation from South Africa comprising of senior officials from the police, justice and Correctional services will depart for Tanzania tomorrow, they will be received and assisted by the office the High Commissioner in Tanzania,” reads part of the statement.
Police National Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola ordered the prioritisation of investigations into the Mangaung prison escape case on March 26, following a series of reports revealing that Bester, who staged his own fiery “death” in his cell at the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein in May 2022, had actually escaped.
“Detectives from the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) and the Organised Crime Investigations (OCI) units in the Free State and Gauteng provinces were appointed to work round the clock on this investigation with track and tracing teams of Correctional Services and Crime Intelligence,” they said.
A case of murder is currently 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.
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 in Bester’s cell.
A case of escape from lawful custody was also registered on confirmation by the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) that Thabo Bester was no longer in their custody.
“We are confident that we will receive maximum cooperation from our sister nation of Tanzania, to assist us to bring these fugitives to justice. The level cooperation has been exemplary thus far,” they said in the statement.
IOL