CHARLES MOLELE
NOTORIOUS ‘Facebook rapist’ and convicted murderer Thabo Bester, his socialite doctor wife Dr Nandipha Magudumana and a Mozambican national have been arrested in Tanzania following a dramatic police swoop, Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola confirmed on Saturday.
The criminal couple known as ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ were arrested, along with their Mozambican accomplice, Zakaria Alberto, on Friday night by Tanzanian authorities in Arusha, approximately 10 kilometres from the Kenyan border.
Alberto is believed to have assisted Bester and Magudumana to cross borders and evade law enforcement authorities.
“The Minister of Police and the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, can confirm that escapee Mr Thabo Bester with his accomplice Dr Nandipha Maguduma along with a Mozambican national have been arrested in Tanzania late last night,” said Lamola in a joint statement on the arrest of the ‘outlaw couple’.
“On 26 March 2023, the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), General Fannie Masemola ordered the prioritisation of investigations into the Mangaung prison escape case. 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.”
Lamola, along with Police Minister General Bheki Cele, addressed the nation regarding the manhunt for Bester, a convicted rapist and murderer who escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Facility in May 2022 by faking his own death.
Lamola announced that a high-level South African delegation is scheduled to depart for Tanzania on Sunday to initiate the deportation process for Bester, Magudumana, and Alberto.
“It’s a straight deportation case for Bester to come back and serve his sentence. Authorities will also look into the best possible way to bring back Dr Nandipha,” said Lamola, adding that, among others, Magudumana face charges of aiding and abetting a fugitive and a criminal to evade justice.
“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.”
Lamola added: “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 of cooperation has been exemplary thus far.”
Cele revealed that the criminal couple and their Mozambican accomplice were found with multiple passports, suggesting that they intended to flee to another East African country, most likely Kenya.
He said the fugitives were identified by people working in collaboration with South African authorities and the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), which is a global crime-fighting agency that promotes international police cooperation and crime prevention.
“They were followed while trying to leave the country in a black SUV, they were followed from the hotel. They were later stopped by the police and arrested,” said Cele.
“Interpol has also confirmed that the person arrested in Tanzania is indeed the person that we have been looking for.”
At the time of his dramatic escape, Bester was serving a 50-year sentence for stabbing his Johannesburg model girlfriend, Nomfundo Tyulu, to death in a guesthouse in Cape Town, as well as for raping two other models in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.
Tyhulu was a car saleswoman who sold Bester a BMW in 2011.
In addition, Bester is also facing two fraud charges in Johannesburg, one in Cape Town, and a charge for armed robbery in Boksburg.
During his incarceration, Bester used a laptop he had in jail to start an event and production company. He also addressed a glamorous conference from his cell in 2018, claiming to be speaking from New York in the United States. The conference was attended by members of Joburg’s high society, including actress Amanda Du Pont and South African music legend Yvonne Chaka Chaka.
The notorious South African gangster and fraudster may face additional charges for his escape from custody, which could include illegal border crossing into Tanzania and leaving South Africa without permission.
“A case of escape from lawful custody was also registered on confirmation by the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) that Thabo Bester was not in their custody,” said Lamola.
In 2012, Bester was sentenced to life in prison for rape, robbery and murder.
Authorities initially believed that Bester died by setting himself on fire in his private cell at the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein, Free State, in May 2022.
But this theory changed when the police revealed that an autopsy and DNA tests indicated that the charred remains actually belonged to someone else and not Bester.
Further investigation led them to believe that the person died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head before being set ablaze.
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