Bloemfontein – Zolile Cornelius Sekeleni, the father of Dr. Nandipha Magudumana – the partner of Thabo Bester the “Facebook Rapist” – appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, where he was remanded in custody.
Prison escapee Bester was arrested in Tanzania on Friday along with his partner Dr. Magudumana.
The fugitive couple was picked up by police in that country together with their accomplice, Zakaria Alberto, a Mozambique national.
Dr. Magudumana is wanted in South Africa for assisting Bester to escape.
On Tuesday, her 65-year-old father, who was arrested on Friday at his Port Edward home, in the Eastern Cape, appeared alongside his co-accused, Senohe Matsoara, a 39-year-old former warden at the Mangaung Prison, which is managed by the private company G4S.
The pair were both arrested at the weekend in connection with Bester’s May 2022 prison break that involved a dead body being set alight in a cell.
The body that was passed off as that of Bester has yet to be identified, but authorities insist the person died of blunt trauma to the head before he was set alight.
Bester, dubbed the “Facebook Rapist” because he used the social media platform to lure his victims, was serving a life sentence for rape and murder when he was assisted to escape from the prison, which involved faking his own death.
The Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday charged the two accused – Sekeleni and Matsoara – with serious crimes including murder, fraud, defeating the ends of justice as well as aiding and abetting Bester’s escape.
Both accused were remanded in custody until their next appearance on 17 April 2023.
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