Bloemfontein – Police on Wednesday arrested a 44-year-old security camera installation technician in connection with Thabo Bester’s escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre.
Police said the arrested man was employed by a contractor that installs and maintains CCTV cameras at the correctional facility from where Bester escaped.
Earlier on Wednesday, G4S – the private company that runs the Mangaung Correctional Centre, was grilled in Parliament about the series of mishaps – including the malfunction of the CCTV – that coincided with Bester’s escape.
Bester, dubbed the “Facebook Rapist” because he used the social media platform to lure his victims, escaped from the prison in May last year.
The convicted murderer and rapist faked his own death, which involved setting alight the body of another person in his cell, where CCTV was compromised.
Fugitive Bester and his Partner Dr. Nandipha Magudumana were arrested in Tanzania on Friday as they attempted to cross into Kenya.
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Dr. Magudumana’s father, Zolile Cornelius Sekeleni and a former prison warder Senohe Matsoara have also been arrested and have appeared in court. The pair were further remanded in custody.
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Police said the arrested man is expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
He will face charges of aiding and abetting the escape of a prisoner from lawful custody, defeating the ends of justice and violating a corpse.
Meanwhile, police in the North West have seized a white Porsche Cayenne that is thought to belong to Dr. Magudumana, who is also wanted for aiding Bester’s escape.
On Thursday, Police Minister General Bheki Cele will give updates on when the fugitive couple will be returned to South Africa to face justice.
An official delegation from South Africa – comprising senior officials from the police, justice and correctional services, and home affairs – is already in Tanzania.
The South Africans are meeting with their Tanzanian counterparts. They are engaging in the process required to bring back escaped inmate Bester and his accomplice Dr. Magudumana.
The fate of Zakaria Alberto, the Mozambican arrested along with Bester and Dr. Magudumana, remains unclear.
