By Ntombi Mhlongo
The Parliament of South Africa has demanded answers regarding the ongoing situation surrounding convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester, who faked his own death and escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022.
Bester and his associate, Dr Nandipha Magudumana were arrested in Tanzania on Friday, April 7 2023, with several passports in their possession. On Wednesday, the management of the G4S, the Mangaung Prison and Private Prisons company, appeared before Parliament and the session was broadcast live on Newzroom Afrika.
Read More: Two more arrested in Thabo Bester case
During the session, Members of Parliament (MPs) posed various questions to the GTS4 management team to ascertain what could have contributed to the escape of the convict.
ANC MP Qubudile Dyantyi asked G4S representatives what processes, if any, are followed when an inmate requests to be shifted from one section of the correctional centre to the other.
As more questions were posed to the prison management team, Mangaung Correctional Centre Head Joseph Monyante insisted that the maximum-security facility remains one of the most secure in South Africa.
Read More: SA healthcare regulator to investigate Dr Nandipha
Monyante also revealed that the prison heavily relies on human beings for data collection.
“If a visit is not captured, it is likely human error, not machines used to capture the visits,” he said.
He also stated that the convicted rapist and murderer had a personal laptop in his cell, using it to study as he was a registered student at Damelin.
Read More: South Africa added to grey list
Furthermore, Monyante said the whole facility does not have fire detectors and depends on people to detect or smell fires. Meanwhile, G4S Director Cobus Groenewoud said before the escape, all
CCTV cameras except for the one close to his cell were functional.
Forget Thabo Bester: The Movie.
— Lester Kiewit (@lesterkk) April 12, 2023
I’d watch Glynis Breytenbach braai all day. pic.twitter.com/uPbZX2rH4b