G4S Thabo Bester

DCS has provided an update on Thabo Bester’s prison escape. Image: Twitter/@Abramjee.

Correctional Services to provide update on Thabo Bester’s escape

Convicted criminal Thabo Bester escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Centre which is a maximum security prison run by G4S.

G4S Thabo Bester

DCS has provided an update on Thabo Bester’s prison escape. Image: Twitter/@Abramjee.

The National Commissioner of the Department of Justice and Correctional Services Makgothi Thobakgale is expected to give an update on the Thabo Bester escape incident on Tuesday, 30 March.

This comes as DCS confirmed that Bester escaped prison in May 2022 and did not die in a cell fire as previously reported.

DCS TO GIVE UPDATE ON THABO BESTER ESCAPE INCIDENT

The briefing is expected to take place at 09:00 at the Grootvlei Correctional Centre in Mangaung.

On Saturday, 25 March, the DCS said it received a report from the Mangaung Correctional Centre – a public-private partnership prison – operated by G4S.

The report said Bester committed suicide by setting himself on fire in his cell at approximately 3:25 on 3 May 2022. He was serving a life and 75 years imprisonment sentence.

ALSO READ: Correctional Services confirms ‘Facebook Rapist’ Thabo Bester’s great escape

Thabo Bester
‘Facebook rapist’ Thabo Bester in court. Image/Brenton Geach

An autopsy on the burnt body found in Bester’s cell revealed that the male died of blunt-force trauma to the head.

The autopsy also revealed no signs of smoke inhalation in the body, and the pancreas and spleen were in the early stages of decomposition.

ALSO READ:  Thabo Bester ran a glamorous media company from prison

CALLS FOR DCS TO CUT TIES WITH G4S

Meanwhile, the South African Policing Union (SAPU) in Free State has called for the immediate cancellation of G4S’ contract with the Department of Correctional Services after it confirmed that Thabo Bester escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Centre.

SAPU spokesperson Lesiba Thobakgale said they have been calling on the Minister of Justice and Correctional Service Ronald Lamola to take back Correctional Centres that companies like G4S and other security companies privately run.

Thobakgale said they believe that government could invest the money spent on paying private security companies by ensuring that more prisons are built.

ALSO READ: ‘Blatant incompetence’: EFF weighs in on Thabo Bester’s escape