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| Convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester escaped from Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022. Archive photo: Becker Semela |
The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services held a two-day hearing into Thabo Bester's prison escape from Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022. MPs appeared united across party lines, promising to hold those responsible accountable for their mistakes. During the hearings, committee chairperson Bulelani Magwanishe suggested that G4S, whose officials are currently facing criminal charges, acted with "gross incompetence." MPs had harsh words for Integration Integrated Solutions. This company maintains the CCTV footage at the prison for failing to investigate its official timeously, Tebogo Lipholo, who had switched off the CCTV cameras several times during Bester's escape.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) was criticised for its slow investigations, such as never questioning or surveilling Nandipha Magudumana, Bester's alleged accomplice, and for not informing Bester's rape victims that he was on the loose. The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) was admonished for several instances of incompetence and waiting 11 months before admitting to the public that Bester had escaped. There was even a call for Minister Ronald Lamola to resign.
Despite this public show of "accountability in action", there has been little accountability. MPs have not materialised, and only three officials from the DCS have been suspended: the controller and deputy controller at the Mangaung prison and the director of contract management. DCS spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo replied that they cannot divulge to the public internal disciplinary processes as those are between the employer and employee.
The portfolio committee chair, Magwanishe, told GroundUp that the committee does not have the report. The Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services has confirmed that neither is it in possession of the information.
As for multinational security company G4S, DCS has moved to cancel their contract, which will expire in 2026. Bloemfontein Correctional Contracts (a subsidiary of G4S) owns the prison and has challenged the decision to end the contract. Mediation attempts have failed, and the matter is now in court.
By July 2022, two months after the escape, SAPS knew that the body found in Bester's cell had not died by suicide, that Nandipha Magudumana was closely involved in the matter, and that the DNA of the body did not match that of Bester's biological mother. However, it was only in March 2023, after GroundUp's exposé, that a track and trace team was set up to find Bester and Magudumana. Charges against three of the accused have since been withdrawn, and the trial against the remaining nine accused will start in 2024.
