Africa-Press – South-Africa. Murderer and rapist Thabo Bester’s victims were not informed of his escape, according to a parliamentary response from Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola.
Furthermore, the Department of Home Affairs will not recover from G4S the R1.4 million used to charter a flight to bring Bester and his alleged accomplice, Nandipha Magudumana, back to South Africa.
G4S is the company that ran the prison Bester escaped from.
The DA’s Janho Engelbrecht asked Lamola what was done to “ensure the safety and protection of the victims of the escaped convict and on what exact date were each of them informed of the material risk posed to themselves”.
He also asked when and how the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) was informed of Bester’s escape.
Lamola responded: “As soon as the Department of Correctional Services discovered that the offender had indeed escaped from lawful custody, the matter was reported to the South African Police Service (SAPS) for investigation.
“A case of escape was opened with SAPS on 12 January 2023. In addition, a track and tracing team was established to reinforce the tracing and re-arrest of the offender.
“None of the victims were informed of the escape, in line with the general procedure in relation to informing victims about offender/perpetrators who died, escaped from custody.”
Lamola said the Department of Justice and Correctional Services did not directly inform the NPA.
“However, a criminal case was reported to SAPS for further investigation and possible prosecution by the NPA,” Lamola said.
Bester escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Centre on 3 May 2022 after faking his death in a fire in a solitary cell he had requested to be placed in days before.
In April, Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs that Tanzanian officials had wanted Bester and Magudumana to be handed over to immigration officials.
According to Motsoaledi, they had been forced to charter a flight and made use of Treasury’s database. They took the cheapest option, at R1.4 million.
“We never asked anyone for a luxury flight,” said Motsoaledi at the time.
Subsequently the IFP’s Liezl van der Merwe, who serves on the committee, asked Motsoaledi, “considering that a Dassault Falcon 900B luxury jet was utilised to fly fugitives, Mr Thabo Bester and Dr Nandipha Magudumana, from Tanzania to the Republic and that the return trip allegedly cost taxpayers R1,4 million”, how many quotes were sourced, the details of each quote and the names of the services providers used.
She also asked whether his department would attempt to recoup the total specified cost from G4S.
Motsoaledi said his department participated in National Treasury’s transversal contract for the hiring and leasing of aircraft and helicopters to the state.
“Thirteen service providers, who are accredited on this contract, were approached to submit quotations for the service. Out of the 13 service providers, three responded. The department selected the cheapest option from the quotations which were received.”
National Airways Corporation quoted R1 412 927.00; Y and P Logistics: R1 546 700.00; and Cobra Aviation: R1 997 000.00.
“National Airways Corporation was selected to render the service at an amount of R1 412 927.00,” Motsoaledi said.
Responding to Van der Merwe’s second question, Motsoaledi said: “No, the department will not attempt to recover the costs relating to the charter flight from G4S. The department does not have a legal basis to recover the cost of the charter flight from G4S as there is no contract or contractual relationship with G4S.”
G4S manages the Mangaung Correctional Centre (MCC) from which Bester escaped. It is also part of the consortium that owns the MCC.
The Department of Correctional Services last month issued a notice that it intended to terminate the MCC contract.
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