Africa-Press – South-Africa. Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has described the escape of convicted rapist Thabo Bester as “an embarrassing situation” for the government.
On Thursday, Ntshavheni briefed journalists on the outcomes of a Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.
Asked about Bester’s escape, she said: “[For] government, [this is an] embarrassing situation that a convicted criminal who was sentenced to life imprisonment for 75 years escapes from prison.
“Cabinet has instructed law enforcement [agencies] to make sure that he gets recaptured as soon as possible and to make sure that everybody involved in assisting him or who was negligent in any form or manner, must face consequences.”
Bester, dubbed the Facebook rapist, pleaded guilty to two charges of rape and one of murder in separate trials in 2011 and 2012 and was sentenced to an effective life term in prison.
After he was reported to have committed suicide in his cell at the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein in May last year, GroundUp published a series of stories on evidence that he had, in fact, escaped.
While the correctional services department has admitted that the body found in Bester’s cell was, plausibly, not his, G4S – the company managing the private prison – has reportedly insisted it was.
During a series of well-planned attacks, the self-admitted fraudster lured his model victims with the promise of work, only to sexually assault them.
He then murdered Nomfundo Tyhulu, who he claimed was a long-distance girlfriend who had stood by him after he was accused of several crimes in Durban, by stabbing her in the chest and leaving her body in the room of a B and B they had shared.
In an interview with then-police profiler Dr Gerard Labuschagne, Bester claimed he liked Tyhulu and said he only realised he had committed rape after leaving the hotels where he had assaulted his victims.
Ntshavheni said the government was serious about ensuring that convicted criminals served their terms in jail and that victims felt justice had been served.
“We have given instruction that [the] Department of Justice and Correctional Services fast track the takeover of those facilities. The two centres operated by private companies must be take over as speedily as possible.
“The department has announced that they have started mechanisms to prepare for the takeover of those precincts.
“They have already served notices that they will not renew the contracts for the management of those correctional centres. We will ensure incidents of this nature do not repeat,” she said.
However, Ntshavheni denied that South Africa was turning into a mafia when she commented on the recent killing of Cloete Murray and his 28-year-old son Thomas.
Thomas died after sustaining a single gunshot wound in his father’s Toyota Prado, next to the N1 north highway, just after the New Rod bridge, on the afternoon of Saturday, 18 March.
Cloete Murray, who was driving, was shot six times and died in hospital hours later.
They both worked as insolvency practitioners, and Cloete was described as a giant in the industry. He tackled some of the most contentious liquidations in the country, including politically linked Bosasa, and Gupta-linked Trillian.
“We are concerned at the incidents that are taking place and we are confident that we can stem out this problem before it gets out of hand,” Ntshavheni said.
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