Warder’s alert on the escape was ignored

THE story behind the death of Facebook rapist Thabo Bester, who is believed to be alive, keeps getting stranger than fiction as the latest reports indicate that a prison warder notified an official that the convicted murderer’s death was staged.

A recent GroundUp report stated that on June 11 last year, a prison warder at Mangaung Correctional Centre sent an email to the Deputy Minister of Correctional Services Phathekile Holomisa, asking him if he was aware that Bester was assisted to escape from the prison facility which is run by G4S and the department in a public-private partnership.

“Are you aware that the inmate who was ‘allegedly’ burnt to death at Mangaung Correctional Centre was supposedly assisted to escape by the Mangaung Correctional Centre and Department of Correctional Services (DCS) officials at the prison?” read the email the warder sent.

GroundUp said the warder sent a follow-up email to Holomisa on November 8.

“Good Day Sir, I informed you of the Thabo Bester escape (in) my previous email… your office &… the DCS (have) ignored my emails notifying you of this.”

It appears no action was taken regarding the email.

The warder told the publication that after reporting the alleged cover-up, they were victimised and later transferred from the facility.

“It’s not the first incident that I’ve reported. I sent him (deputy minister) a number of emails about the gang stabbings, corruption and treatment of inmates.”

The warder added that it was an “open secret” that the body in Cell 35, was not that of Bester.

“I informed the (deputy) minister… the way the whole (crime scene) thing was handled, no protocol was followed. There (were) too many red flags and we (colleagues) suspect this was an inside job from night shift (staff),” the warder told GroundUp.

The publication said it spoke to Justice Ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri, who indicated that the deputy minister was unable to locate the emails but they were doing all they could to track them.

Last week, Police Minister Bheki Cele conceded that the DNA test had not confirmed that the body found in the cell was Bester’s.

Cele added that an investigation was under way following reports that Bester was alive.

The DCS said it was pressing the investigation team to conclude its work so that the findings could be made available.

“Let us reiterate that the investigation on the death of Thabo Bester has not been concluded, and the autopsy report has not been tabled before the department,” the department said.

In May last year, the DCS confirmed that Bester was found dead in his cell at the Mangaung Correctional Centre.

The version was that Bester had set himself alight.

However, last week, it was reported that Bester had been spotted in Sandton City two months later.

At least two women, one in Cape Town and the other in Johannesburg, said they had been in physical contact with a man resembling Bester.

The Cape Town woman said she had met him in the coastal city where he was apparently on holiday with two young women, thought to be in their early twenties.

The woman in Joburg, a dietitian, said she met Bester at her office where he had apparently tried to offer her an assortment of things, including TV deals and overseas trips. She said he left when he realised she was not buying the scam.