Mzansi has more than one Thabo Bester! Here are the other 2…

Thabo Bester has become a household name overnight after his showstopping prison escape. But did you know there is more than one man with the same name in South Africa? According to Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi, there are actually three!

One of them is the 37-year-old man dubbed the “Facebook Rapist,” who has previously been convicted of rape, murder, and fraud.

Bester – who was recently captured and re-arrested – has been remanded in custody at the Mangaung Correctional Centre. He will appear in court again on 16 May 2023.

ALSO READ: Living his Best-er life? Thabo Bester dances in jail cell [watch]

THABO BESTER: MEN WITH THE NOTORIOUS NAME

In a media briefing on Friday, 14 April, the minister revealed that while Thabo Bester did not have an official identity document, he was identified through a record of his fingerprints.

Interestingly, the Department of Home Affairs did have a record for two other men with the same name.

ALSO READ: Same person? Thabo Bester’s court appearance confuses country

“One is a young man who is 19 years old. He has already presented himself to the police when he heard that there is a ‘Thabo Bester’ who is wanted.

“Police confirmed he was not the person they were looking for”.

[CLARIFIED]
The name, #ThaboBester, does belong to the convicted rapist and murderer. However, the reason Bester does not possess a valid SA ID document, dates back to the years his biological mother was not captured in the books of Homes Affairs’s National Population Register. pic.twitter.com/ZrG0QUasMP

— Xoli Mngambi (@XoliMngambi) April 14, 2023

The Minister also revealed that the department had gone through identires of 16 men with the name TK Nkwana, an alias used by Bester.

‘TRAPPED IN A NIGHTMARE’

Meanwhile, the second man with the name ‘Thabo Bester has spoken out on claims the escaped convict “stole” his identity.

Thabo Lawrence Bester of Heidelberg told Sunday Times that he was in a “living nightmare” after being mistaken for the man convicted of rape and murder.

ALSO READ: Thabo Bester permitted laptop to ‘study’ in prison – but had no ID!

According to the Johannesburg forklift driver, Bester allegedly assumed his identity – including his identity number – during a spree of multiple crimes. At the time, the man himself was in prison for his own crime, murdering a friend in a tavern quarrel in 2010.

He said: “I told them to tell the police it was impossible, as I was in prison. There was no way I could be in two places at once. The same thing happened again in 2018, just before I got out of prison.

“I was very confused about what was happening. It meant there was someone with my identity document, which had my address, committing these crimes in my name. The police were coming to my house and my neighbour’s house asking for me.”

ALSO READ: Thabo Bester: Strict security to prevent self-harm, another escape

After being released from prison in 2018, the man cleared his name. After Thabo Bester’s alleged prison escape in May 2022, the man has become a target again.

He continued: “I was shocked. I thought this could not be happening again. People were asking me if it was me. I thought I cannot go through this whole mess again.

After speaking to the police, the man was instructed not to leave his home. 

He added: “I feel like a prisoner with this whole thing. This guy has stolen my life and has trapped me in a nightmare, which is not ending because this other Thabo Bester is still out there committing crimes.”

The man’s comments come days after a Johannesburg aesthetics doctor with the same name as Dr Nandi cleared the air on her mistaken identity.