Convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester appears in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on April 14, 2023. Picture: AFP
JUSTICE Minister Ronald Lamola says an investigation is under way into allegations that Thabo Bester was let out of the Mangaung facility to enjoy ‘luxurious holidays’ with his lover, Dr Nandipha Magudumana.
Lamola says he was alerted to allegations that convicted rapist and murderer Bester was being let out of the Mangaung Correctional Centre on luxury holidays to a boutique hotel just 25km from the facility.
This was months before Bester faked his death and fled from the G4S-run prison.
In an interview with JJ Tabane on eNCA's “Power to Truth”, Lamola said that in an investigating report it emerged that Bester had been let out of the facility on different occasions.
"When I visited the facility in late March this year, when our guys took over when we implemented the Section 112 and our guys took over the facility, we were able to access a number of people who were able to tell us more," he said.
At the weekend, Sunday newspapers reported that Bester enjoyed "several getaways" with Magudumana.
The department said it is still looking into the allegations.
Meanwhile, DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach said she has been furnished with documents that the allegations could be true, which suggests corruption on a grand scale.
In an interview with eNCA, she added that if this was the arrangement at Mangaung, it could be the same arrangement at other prisons.
WATCH | Video of Thabo Bester 'dancing' in his prison cell goes viral on social media 🤮 🤮 pic.twitter.com/P7FRp2OBIm
— 🔞SA911 (@JustdoitZee) April 18, 2023
Bester was initially convicted for the rape of two women in Durban in 2012. In the same year, he was convicted in Cape Town for the rape and murder of Nomfundo Tyhulu.
On May 3 last year, Bester escaped from the Mangaung prison by faking his own death and planting an unknown man’s body in his prison cell.
Bester and Magudumana fled the country after news agency GroundUp published pictures in March this year that showed him apparently shopping at a supermarket in Sandton. The picture had been taken in June last year, over a month after his apparent death in Cell 35.
Bester and Magudumana were eventually arrested in Tanzania and were deported back to SA to face charges related to the escape and murder.
Magudumana has since appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court alongside her father, Zolile Sekeleni, and former G4S employee Senohe Matsoara, and CCTV operator Tebogo Lipholo. They are due back in court on May 3.
Sekeleni was granted R10,000 bail due to his health and a murder charge against him was withdrawn by the NPA.
Bester appeared separately and is also due back in court on May 16.