Officials who delayed reporting Bester’s escape handed final written warnings

Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald said that all prison officials who delayed reporting the escape of convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester were reassigned to different positions and handed final written warnings.

Groenewald made the remarks on Tuesday after Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka found that there was an “undue delay” in how the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) handled Bester’s prison escape.

Fake death

Bester, also known as the Facebook rapist, escaped from Mangaung Correctional Centre, a privately-run maximum-security prison, in May 2022.

He faked his death in a cell fire, allegedly with the help of his girlfriend and celebrity doctor Nandipha Magudumana and several prison officials.

ALSO READ: Department of Correctional Services accused of dragging its feet after Thabo Bester’s escape

Bester and Magudumana were arrested in April 2023 and are currently awaiting trial.

Action

Groenewald’s spokesperson Euné Oelofsen said the minister has taken note of the report issued by Gcaleka regarding Bester’s escape in 2022.

“As a result of their actions, the officials involved have been reassigned to alternative positions and issued final written warnings for their failure to promptly report the escape.”

Oelofsen said while Groenewald acknowledged that the officials were slow to report the escape, he firmly asserted that “G4S bears significant responsibility for this incident”.

“G4S was tasked with ensuring that such an escape did not occur. Minister Groenewald emphasises that such behaviour is unacceptable and assures the public that stricter consequence management will be implemented to prevent similar incidents during his tenure.”

Public Protector investigation

The Public Protector launched an investigation in March 2023 after receiving a complaint from a member of the public that the DCS had failed to handle the escape.

Gcaleka’s report concludes that the conduct of two DCS officials, Roseline Phahlane and Chris Mahonono, “constitutes improper conduct as contemplated in terms of section 182(1)(a) of the Constitution and amounts to undue delay as envisaged in section 6(4)(a)(ii) of the Public Protector Act”.

Phahlane, the DCS’s Director of Contract Management, oversaw the contract with Bloemfontein Correctional Contracts, the private company that runs the prison with multinational security company G4S.

ALSO READ: Groenewald plans visit to ‘Thabo Bester facility’ to meet private prison CEO