Thabo Bester: Dr Nandipha’s father, former G4S official remain in custody till next week – facing murder charge

Two suspects arrested for allegedly aiding and abetting Facebook rapist Thabo Bester‘s escape from prison have been charged with murder.

Thabo Bester prison escape

The pair, Dr Nandipha Magudumana’s father and a former G4S employee, appeared briefly on Tuesday in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on charges of assisting an inmate to escape from lawful custody, defeating the ends of justice, fraud, murder and arson.

This follows their arrests during the Easter long weekend for aiding and abetting Bester’s escape from Mangaung Correctional Centre in May last year, after he faked his death.

According to a post-mortem, the charred body found in Bester’s prison cell indicates that the person was killed before his body was burned. The identity of the man who died from blunt trauma is yet to be identified.

NPA Free State spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said this was the reason for the murder charge levelled against Magudumana’s father, Zolile Cornelius Sekeleni, and his co-accused former G4S employee Senohe Matsoara.

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The 65-year-old father was nabbed on Good Friday at his home in Port Edward, KwaZulu-Natal, while Matsoara, 39, was arrested at his residence in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

G4S is the company that was contracted to provide security and run the Mangaung prison when Bester escaped from custody.

Court appearance

During Sekeleni and Matsoara’s court appearance on Tuesday, the defence indicated that the pair had no previous criminal records or pending court matters.

They were remanded in custody after the state and defence agreed to postpone the case to 17 April 2023, for bail information and possible bail application.

“The bail information will assist the prosecution to decide whether they are grounds to oppose bail,” said Shuping.

Thabo Bester, Dr Nandipha nabbed in Tanzania

Bester and Magudumana were arrested in Arusha, Tanzania, late on Friday night after South African authorities issued warrants for their arrests.

The couple skipped the country after government confirmed in March that Bester escaped from prison, after it was believed that he had taken his life by setting himself alight in his cell.

They were arrested along with a Mozambican national, Zakaria Alberto, who is believed to have assisted them in escaping South Africa through the Zimbabwe border and made their way to Tanzania.

The trio was reportedly caught with several passports containing multiple identities.

A South African delegation, led by deputy national police commissioner responsible for policing, Lieutenant-General Tebello Mosikili, arrived in Arusha over the long weekend to repatriate Bester and Magudumana back to South Africa.

Watch: Timeline of Thabo Bester’s crime

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