Bester, Magudumana land in SA under heavy police guard

The pair arrived at Lanseria Airport on a charted plane from Tanzania, where they were arrested last Friday, in the early hours of Thursday morning under heavy police guard.  

Magudumana is expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court, while Bester is being held at the Kgosi Mampuru correctional facility in Tshwane.

National commissioner Makgathi Thobakgale says Bester was kept at the C-max facility to ensure his own safety but to limit possibilities of a security breach.

“We admitted him to Kgosi Mampuru because looking at the security plan from where they landed to the nearest facility that has got all security measures that will ensure that he will not harm himself but will also ensure that he’s not harmed by any other person, the most appropriate facility was identified to be Kgosi Mampuru.

Thobakgale says Bester will remain under 24-hour surveillance.

“Given the type of offender that he is, we are placing 24/7 surveillance on him, we are also placing 24/7 contact with him with selected highly trained correctional services officials to ensure that whatever circumstance he finds himself in we will be first on call to ensure that we don’t experience any security breach.”

Justice Minister Ronald Lamola read out the joint statement from his department and the police, in which he thanked Tanzanian authorities for their assistance in securing the arrests and subsequent deportation of the duo.

“We are grateful to all the role players seized with this matter thus far. This includes state agencies and members of the public who have shared information that has assisted in the detention of the two fugitives.”

A high-level delegation arrived in Tanzania on 9 April to negotiate their return to South Africa.

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