South African fugitive Thabo Bester, 2 others found in possession of several passports
THREE people arrested in Arusha, including South African fugitive were Thabo Bester and his lover Dr Nandipha Magudumana, were found in possession of several passports, with different names, and none of the passports had been stamped.
However, Tanzanian police were said to be in contact with the South African police to provide further confirmation and verification of the two fugitives.
The Tanzania Police Force on Saturday
confirmed the arrest of Thabo Bester,
a South African fugitive.
Mr Bester, alias ‘Facebook rapist’
is reported to have been arrested here
on Friday, alongside his accomplice, Dr Nandipha Magudumana and another person identified as Zakaria Alberto.
A statement released by the country’s Police Force spokesperson David Misime confirmed the fugitive’s arrest, further detailing that some Government funds payout increases CAG uncovers weaknesses in project management national and international legal procedures including repatriating the notorious fugitive back to South Africa
were underway.
Bester is a wanted fugitive following his elaborate escape from the Mangaung
Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein in May 2022.
Bester escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein in May 2022 after it was initially believed that he had committed suicide by setting himself on fire while in his cell.
The Department of Correctional Services later confirmed that the charred body
found in his cell was not that of Bester, and that he had been at large for nine months.
According to sources, Mr Bester was apprehended on Friday after Tanzania Police Force received a tip-off regarding individuals fitting the description of the fugitives.
However, the police could not confirm that the couple was Bester and Magudumana based on the travel docu-
ments that they were carrying.
South African Police recently raided a mansion in the plush suburb of Hyde
Park in Johannesburg, where Bester and Magudumana had been hiding out.
Mr Bester was serving a sentence for rape and murder.
He is alleged to have escaped from Mangaung Correctional Centre on May 3, 2022 after faking his death in
a cell fire.
The burned corpse found in the cell was collected by Magudumana but it was later confiscated by police.
Dr Magudumana then approached the Pretoria High Court, asking for the corpse to be returned to her, claiming to be Bester’s customary law wife.
Court papers filed by the South African Police Service revealed that there was
no DNA match between the corpse and Bester’s biological mother, therefore, the body found in the cell was not Tha-
bo Bester’s.
After escaping from prison, Bester and Magudumana lived in a rented mansion
in Sandton.
Bester used an ID document and driver’s licence under the name ‘Katlego Nkwana’.
The couple operated Arum Properties
together, scamming several people into paying millions for construction projects that were never completed.
SA’s Ministry of Police and Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services have jointly 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.
A statement issued by the two ministries said an official delegation from South Africa comprising of senior officials from the police, justice and Correctional services will depart for Tanzania today for the matter.
