Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) has welcomed the re-arrest of fugitive Thabo Bester and his partner Dr Nandipha Magudumana in Tanzania.
Last week, South African Crime Intelligence officers allegedly tracked Bester to Tanzania where they monitored him for a period before the arrest.
Bester, Magudumana and a Mozambican national allegedly assisting them, were arrested in the Tanzanian city of Arusha. It is believed that they were on their way to Kenya at the time of their arrest.
Popcru spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said that even though the arrests were welcomed, it was an “embarrassment” that they were not arrested in the country.
“We welcome the news of the re-arrest of Thabo Bester, and now that the big embarrassment of not having apprehended him while still in the country is over, it is important that intense investigations are conducted so that we establish facts around this orchestrated escape,” Mamabolo added.
Mamabolo added that security company G4S, which is in charge of Mangaung Correctional Center where Bester had been incarcerated, had in the past week been insistent that Bester had died in his cell.
This was even after the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) publicly stated that he had escaped and was still alive.
“This is unacceptable. When entering into a public-private partnerships (PPP) contract, the DCS was supposed to play a monitoring role, which they clearly dismally failed on. It is clear that G4S was a law unto themselves.
“This PPP contract should be discontinued with immediate effect, and all those responsible must be held accountable,” Mamabolo stressed.
At a media briefing in Pretoria on Saturday, Police Minister Bheki Cele said Bester and Magudumana were found in possession of multiple passports.
“None of the passports were stamped,” said Cele who confirmed that Bester and his accomplices were arrested 10 kilometres from the Kenyan border.
“It looks like they were heading to another country,” Cele added.
Justice minister Ronald Lamola said Bester has “already been tried, convicted and escaped from a South African prison”.
The minister said they would await feedback from Tanzanian authorities on the return of Magudumana. An arrest warrant has been issued against the socialite doctor.
Lamola said they were confident that Tanzanian authorities would work with the South African government to facilitate the return of Bester to South Africa.
He referred to the matter as a “clear case of deportation” as Bester is a convicted criminal who escaped from prison.
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