Prison that Thabo Bester escaped from to be taken over by government at cost of R50m

The Department of Correctional Service DCS) will be taking operational control of the prison where the infamous Thabo Bester escape occurred.

Bester escaped the Mangaung Correctional Centre (MCC) in 2022 but the transfer of custodianship had already been on the cards since 2021.

DCS gave a presentation to parliament on Tuesday to outline their readiness to assume control of the facility.

Private entity given notice

Located on the outskirts of Bloemfontein, MCC was opened in July 2021 and has since been controlled by a private entity called Bloemfontein Correctional Contracts (BCC).

The company had a 25-year contract to manage the facility, a role that was outsourced to another private entity, G4S

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The contract for the 2 928-capacity MCC was due to come to an end in June 2026 but the process of changing management has since been expedited.

Following the late discovery of Bester’s May 2022 escape by faking his own death, BCC was given notice that its contract would be cancelled.

However, BCC has fought the matter in court, with a decision still pending, although this is simply delaying the inevitable.

“The takeover will continue after the legal processes are finalised or at the end the contract, whichever one comes first,” stated the DCS on Tuesday.

“Once DCS has taken over the facility, R50 million will be reprioritised for both operational cost and compensation,” the department confirmed.

Evaluation plan

Bester’s escape was a black mark on the record of prisoner rehabilitation in the country and the DSC has done a sweeping analysis of the prison, running personnel suitability checks on 557 employees at the prison.

The evaluation of the inmates included cross refencing their fingerprints against the warrants issued for their arrest to ensure their identities matched.

“[We] found that records were up to date but that they were not in line with DCS best practices,” DCS commented in their report to parliament.

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Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services Kgomotso Ramolobeng expressed concerns that some inmates still do not have identity documents.

“We do not want another incident like Thabo Bester when we found out he does not have an ID,” Ramolobeng said.  

The DCS explained to the chairperson that inmates claimed not to have enough money to apply for an ID, suggesting they used that an excuse to to avoid potential additional criminal charges.

Limpopo prison

A similar situation exists in Louis Trichardt in Limpopo.

The 3 024-capacity Kutama-Sinthumile Correction Centre (KSCC) began housing inmates in February 2022 under the same management concept.

This facility is run by South Africa Custodial Management but the same process that MCC has undergone will be completed before the expiration of the contract in February 2027.

“The takeover of KSCC will be finalised after Mangaung,” DCS concluded.

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