More G4S employees arrested in connection with Bester escape

Police arrested two more G4S employees in connection with the escape of convicted rapist and murderer, Thabo Bester.

The former G4S employees were handcuffed by police officers in Bloemftein on Monday.

Arrests

Police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said the duo are expected to appear in court soon.

“Two employees who were dismissed by G4S were arrested on Monday, 1 May 2023 at their place of residence in Bloemfontein.

“The pair will appear before the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 3 May 2023, on a charge of assisting an inmate to escape from lawful custody and defeating the ends of justice,” Mathe said.

Mathe added that the team investigating this case have so far arrested eight suspects in total.

“The possibility of effecting more arrests cannot be ruled out,” she added.

ALSO READ: Tanzanian Police probe how Thabo Bester and Nandipha slipped through checkpoints

Other arrests

Other people who have been arrested in connection with Bester’s escape include his girlfriend, celebrity aesthetics doctor Nandipha Magudumana, her father, Zolile Sekeleni, and Integritron Integrated Solutions employee Teboho Lipholo.

Escape

Bester escaped from the G4S-run Mangaung Correctional Centre (MCC) in Bloemfontein in May 2022, after it was initially believed he had committed suicide by setting himself alight in his cell.

However, the Department of Correctional Services South Africa, which originally declared him dead, confirmed that the charred body found in his cell was not that of Bester who was convicted in 2012.

Bester and Magudumana

Bester and Magadumana were arrested on Friday, 7 April, about 10km out of Arusha in Tazania after fleeing the hotel they were staying in.

They were arrested alongside a Mozambican national called Zacharia Alberto, believed to be the driver who helped them cross different borders during their escape.

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