UPDATE: Thabo Bester and Dr Nandipha’s case
Thabo Bester, as he was a wanted man, was reportedly trailed by South African Crime Intelligence agents to Tanzania in April 2023. There, they watched him for a time before making a move on a Friday night. Dr Nandipha Magudumana, Thabo Bester, and a supposedly helping Mozambican national were all detained in Arusha. Following coordinated […]
Thabo Bester, as he was a wanted man, was reportedly trailed by South African Crime Intelligence agents to Tanzania in April 2023.
There, they watched him for a time before making a move on a Friday night.
Dr Nandipha Magudumana, Thabo Bester, and a supposedly helping Mozambican national were all detained in Arusha.
Following coordinated operations by Interpol and the police’s Crime Intelligence Unit, the trio was apprehended.
They were allegedly travelling to Kenya when they were detained.
Dr Nandipha Magudumana and her lover Thabo Bester were both taken into custody.
It is said that she started dating Thabo after she got a divorce from her ex-husband.
ALSO READ: LIVE UPDATES Thabo Bester
DR NANDIPHA MAGUDUMANA’S CHILDREN
Aziza and Ayana are the names of Dr Nandipha Magudumana’s two daughters.
Her involvement in the Bester case has had a significant influence on her kids’ life; rumours are that they’ve been teased at school because of their mother’s predicament.
They were unhappy and apprehensive since Dr Magudumana also missed one of their daughter’s birthdays.
CHARGES FACED BY NANDIPHA AND BESTER
Dr Nandipha is accused of major offences, according to Ronald Lamola, minister of justice and correctional services.
Charges against Magudumana include assisting and abetting escape, murder in light of the several victims discovered, body violation, and fraud.
Bester is referred to as the “Facebook rapist” since he lured his victims through the social networking site.
He was found guilty of raping and killing his model girlfriend Nomfundo Tyhulu in 2012.
He had been convicted of raping and robbing two other women a year earlier.
Bester was charged with rape and murder, although the murder charges were dropped.
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BURNT BODY WHEN BESTER ESCAPED
The burnt body found in Thabo Bester’s cell at Mangaung Correctional Center in May 2022 belonged to Katlego Bereng, according to DNA testing.
On Saturday, April 22, Batho Mpho, Katlego Bereng’s father, who was named as Batho Mpho, disclosed on Twitter under the handle @BathoChief that he is the father of the guy who Thabo Bester is said to have burnt.
The mother of the deceased son, called Batho Mpholo to inform him that their missing son’s burnt remains had been positively identified by DNA tests.
According to reports, Thabo Bester’s death in cell 35 at Mangaung Prison in May 2022 was staged using Katlego Bereng’s body, which was then burnt.
The body discovered in the cell was not Bester’s, according to a March 2023 investigation by GroundUp.
Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, a spokesman for the national police, told News24 that the family had been informed once the corpse was identified.
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PEOPLE IMPLICATED IN THE CRIME
After being apprehended in Tanzania together with their accomplice from Mozambique, Bester and Magudumana were discovered to be in possession of many passports, including two belonging to Dr Pashy, actual name Mmereka Ntshani.
Later, she alleges Magudumana stole her passport.
Sekeleni, the father of Magudumana, and Matsoara were detained on suspicion of helping Bester escape and murder.
While Matsoara was detained in Bloemfontein, Sekeleni was detained at Port Edward.
Tebogo James Lipholo, an Integritron CCTV technician who was charged with tampering with cameras the night Bester escaped, appeared in court with Magudumana.
On the night that Bester escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Center, Lipholo is said to have turned off the cameras.
On Sunday, June 11, 2023, in the early hours, Zanda Moyo, 31, was detained in Johannesburg.
He is a Zimbabwean citizen and is being accused of aiding Thabo Bester’s jailbreak who made a brief appearance in court on Tuesday.
His case will be continued until June 20, 2023.
Another person implicated in this ongoing crime story is Bester’s Lawyer who is facing several criminal charges.
Tshireledzo Ndou, Bester’s attorney, has been charged with attempted sexual assault and assault, according to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the Free State.
Ndou is scheduled to appear in court on June 21, 2023, for the Sexual Offenses Court hearing his case.
ALSO READ: Prison break quake? Thabo Bester ‘blamed’ for 4.6 earthquake
TOP POLICE OFFICER AND INVESTIGATOR COMMITS SUICIDE
Police announced that an investigator, Brigadier Jackson Mkhaulesi, who was also the provincial head of organised crime in the Free State in the case of convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester’s escape problem passed away on the 5th of June 2023.
According to reports, the senior SAPS officer reportedly committed suicide at his place of employment.
The officer was present at the court hearing earlier that day where Bester’s girlfriend, Dr Nandipha Magudumana, lost her bid to have her detention in Tanzania ruled “illegal” by the high court.
The investigating officer apparently committed suicide that Monday morning after leaving the Bloemfontein High Court, according to reports.
Nandipha’s immediate motion to the court to have her “deportation” from Tanzania declared illegal was denied.
ARE NANDIPHA AND BESTER MARRIED?
Nandipha said in an affidavit that she was Bester’s “customary wife.”
Redi Tlhabi, a former acquaintance, asserts that the pair got divorced in 2022.
The celebrity doctor is not legally allowed to marry Thabo Bester since he lacks an official identity paper.
Bester’s mother, Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi, claims that Maria Mabaso failed to file a birth certificate for her son.
Bester never requested an ID after becoming of legal age.