News24.com | CCTV technician arrested over Thabo Bester's prison escape

• Police have arrested another suspect in connection with convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester's escape from prison.
• The 44-year-old man is a CCTV technician.
• Police also seized a Porsche Cayenne believed to belong to Bester's partner, Nandipha Magudumana, and were questioning the man found driving the vehicle.

A CCTV technician is expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on Thursday in connection with convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester's escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre.

The 44-year-old man, who was arrested on Tuesday, was an employee contracted to a company that installs and maintains cameras at the prison, said police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe.

He faces charges of aiding and abetting a convicted prisoner to escape from lawful custody, defeating the ends of justice, and violation of a dead body. 

It was believed Bester died in his cell in May last year. However, last month authorities conceded Bester had escaped from prison on 3 May 2022 after news website GroundUp revealed the body found in the cell was not Bester's.

Bester and his girlfriend, aesthetics doctor Nandipha Magudumana, were on the run from 22 March and were eventually tracked down and arrested in Tanzania on Friday night.

A Mozambican national, who was with them and believed to have been assisting them, was also arrested.

On Tuesday, Magudumana's father, Zolile Sekeleni, and Senohe Matsoara, a former G4S staffer, appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court in connection with the prison escape.

They were charged with murder in connection with the body found in the cell, and aiding and abetting a convicted prisoner to escape from lawful custody.

READ | Unauthorised car entered prison days before Thabo Bester escaped, Parliament hears

Matsoara also faces a charge of arson for allegedly playing a part in starting a fire in Bester's cell.

Meanwhile, the Gauteng SAPS tracking team seized a white Porsche Cayenne, believed to belong to Magudumana, in Lichtenburg, North West. 

"[The] 28-year-old male driver has since been taken into police custody where he is currently being questioned," said Mathe.

National police commissioner General Fannie Masemola said police were "closing the net" on those responsible for helping Bester to escape from lawful custody.

"Anyone who knows that they are involved in this case is warned to hand themselves over to authorities. Either they hand themselves in or we fetch them ourselves," he warned.

READ | G4S blow-by-blow account of what happened when Facebook rapist Thabo Bester escaped from prison

Police Minister Bheki Cele and Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola are on Thursday expected to provide an update on the progress of the deportation of Bester and Magudumana from Tanzania.