Another G4S employee nabbed in Thabo Bester saga
A sixth person has been arrested for alleged links to the Thabo Bester prison escape case.
A security guard employed by G4S, the private company running the Magangaung correctional centre from where Bester escaped, was arrested on Tuesday.
“The 51-year-old man was arrested at the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein,” said police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe.
The suspect is expected to appear before the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, on a charge of assisting an inmate to escape from lawful custody and defeating the ends of justice.
Bester, who was serving a life sentence after he was convicted for rape and murder, is alleged to have faked his own death while in custody as part of his elaborate escape last May.
He was allegedly assisted by employees at the prison and his medical doctor lover.
The prison escapee and Magudumana were arrested in Tanzania after an extensive manhunt.
He made his first court appearance on 14 April, while Magudumana joined three others in the dock on 17 April after making a brief court appearance on the day they landed back on South African soil.
A total of six people have now been arrested including Senohe Motsoara, a former G4S employee and James Lipholo who has been linked to the CCTV tampering on the night Bester escaped.
READ: Dr Nandi, two co-accused to remain behind bars until May
At the same time, bail was granted to the father of Bester’s alleged accomplice and lover, Nandipha Magudumana.
Cornelius Sekeleni was granted R10,000 bail.
Magudumana, Lipholo, and Motsoare are expected to return to the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on 3 and 4 May for bail application, while Bester has been kept at the Kgosi Mampuru C-max correctional facility in Tshwane under 24-hour surveillance.
