Border alert issued for Bester

JOHANNESBURG - The hunt for convicted murderer and so-called ‘Facebook rapist’ Thabo Bester and his lover Nandipha Magudumana has widened, with police notifying the department of Home Affirs and Boder Management Authority officers stationed at the country’s borders to be on the lookout for South Africa’s most wanted couple.

City Press has learnt from highly placed sources that the police have also circulated photographs of Bester and his celebrity doctor girlfriend.

Escape

He was sentenced to an effective life term behind bars, but faked his death by fire in his cell in order to escape.

According to reports, security company Fidelity, a subsidiary of UKbased private security company G4s, has offered a reward of R100 000 to get him back to jail.

Instructed

One security cluster source said: “We have police officers stationed at the Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Eswatini Border posts, who’ve been instructed to be on the lookout, as we suspect the couple could be heading to another country.

“The search has been ongoing for a long time now and we think they may have already left South Africa or are on their way out.”

Police Commissioner Finnie Masemola has also ordered the prioritisation of the investigation into Bester’s prison escape, saying this needs to be done in the interests of justice for the victims, survivors and their families.

Tasked

Masemola has tasked detectives from the Family violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences and the Organised Crime Investigations Units to work together around the clock on the case.

Police Spokesperson Athlenda Mathe stated: “A case of murder is under investigation following the outcome of the DNA analysis, which confirmed that the dead body which was found in Thabo Bester’s cell was not his.’’