Africa-Press – South-Africa. There is no evidence that Facebook rapist and prison escapee Thabo Bester and Dr Nandipha Magudumana left South Africa via a legal port of entry.
It’s likely that Bester and Magudumana, who were arrested in Tanzania earlier this month, fled SA by crossing into a neighbouring country through the porous borders.
This was the inference to be drawn from comments made by Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, who briefed the media about the Bester saga on Friday.
Motsoaledi confirmed that, through the monitoring of the movement control system, both Bester and Magudumana did not leave SA via a border post.
The minister gave more details about the travel documents in possession of Bester and Magudumana on the day they were arrested in Tanzania, along with a Mozambican national, about 10km from the Kenyan border on 7 April.
‘American’ passport
Bester was found with a purported American passport in the name of Tom Williams Kelly.
Motsoaledi said it had not yet been ascertained whether the passport was fake or whether it was obtained fraudulently.
Meanwhile, Magudumana was found in possession of two passports belonging to another doctor. The one passport had already expired.
Motsoaledi said none of the passports had been used and that Magudumana had not impersonated the doctor.
The doctor in question allegedly claimed she lost the expired passport in 2019 and applied for a new one. This was the same expired passport found in the possession of Magudumana.
Motsoaledi added that the doctor made a statement to police in March this year, where she said she gave her valid passport to Magudumana for purposes of applying for “US citizenship” on her behalf.
Magudumana had her own valid passport, which was last used in May 2022, when she left South Africa to Zimbabwe, using the Beitbridge border post.
She returned to South Africa three days later on 12 May 2022. Her passport had not been used since.
Bester is South African
Motsoaledi said Bester is a South African national, but that he did not have any form of identification.
Through Bester’s mother, Home Affairs was able to confirm Bester’s birth at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Johannesburg on 13 June 1986.
Bester was never registered with Home Affairs and, by the time he was 16, he had run away from home, according to his mother.
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