Thabo Bester: Govt ‘embarrassed’ by daring escape, admits Ntshavheni
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says the government is embarrassed by the escape of convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester.
Ntshavheni was addressing the media on the cabinet meeting outcomes on Thursday.
Bester hit the headlines on Sunday when the Department of Correctional Services confirmed that the man dubbed the Facebook rapist managed to escape from a Mangaung prison in May 2022.
Bester was serving a life sentence, but managed to escape by faking his own suicide.
“It is an embarrassing situation that a convicted criminal with sentence to life and 75 years escapes from prison”, says Ntshavheni.
“That’s why cabinet has instructed law enforcement officials to make sure that he is recaptured as soon as possible and also to make sure that everybody who was involved in assisting or aiding him or who was negligent in any form and manner must face consequences including those who have already been dismissed from the correctional services center.”
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“As government we take seriously our responsibility to make sure that convicted criminals serve their term in jail and those that are their victims feel that justice has been served and in that regard that is why cabinet has directed the department of correctional services to ensure that they fast track the takeover of those correctional facilities.”
Ntshavheni adds that cabinet has instructed that the two centers that are operated by the private companies must be taken over as speedily as possible.
“Earlier this morning the Department of Correctional Services announced that they have started making mechanisms to prepare for the takeover of those prisons and they have already served notices that they are not going to renew the contracts for the management of those correctional centers. We as government are going to make sure that these incidents do not happen again.”
