Dr Nandipha Magudumana’s father and a former G4S employee who allegedly helped “Facebook Rapist” Thabo Bester escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre have been charged with murder.
BLOEMFONTEIN – Dr Nandipha Magudumana’s father and a former G4S employee who allegedly helped “Facebook Rapist” Thabo Bester escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre have been charged with murder.
The two suspects have also been charged with arson, fraud and defeating the ends of justice over Bester’s May 2022 escape from the prison facility.
It is understood that the charges of murder relate to the death of the unknown man whose body was placed in Cell 35 at the G4S-operated prison facility in Bloemfontein.
The police had initially charged both suspects with aiding and abetting a convicted prisoner to escape from lawful custody.
The charges were added after Senohe Ishmael Matsoara and Magudumana’s father, Zolile Cornelius Sekeleni, made their first appearance at the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Matsoara was arrested on Saturday in Bloemfontein, while Sekeleni was arrested on Friday in Port Edward.
Their matter was postponed to April 17 for bail application.
Meanwhile, Bester and his fugitive girlfriend were also arrested in Arusha, Tanzania, on Friday night.
The pair were nabbed by Tanzanian police and Interpol, Police Minister Bheki Cele confirmed on Saturday afternoon.
Magudumana and Bester are expected to be deported back to South Africa this week.
In May last year, Bester escaped from the prison facility, which is being run by G4S, after he faked his own fiery death.
It has since been established that Bester, together with prison officials, executed his elaborate jailbreak, where they placed an unknown person’s body in Cell 35 at the Bloemfontein facility.
The identity of the burnt remains found in the cell remains unknown, but a post-mortem has confirmed that the person was killed by blunt force trauma to the head.
Meanwhile, a government delegation comprising top officials from the correctional services and police departments left for Tanzania on Sunday as efforts began to quickly get the two fugitives back to South Africa.
