Thabo Bester has no South African identity document, but he is being confirmed to be South African following his rearrest in Tanzania.
The home affairs has no record of Bester’s birth.
The convicted rapist and murderer escaped from Mangaung Maximum Prison in May 2022, allegedly with the help of a few people including his lover Dr Nandipha Magudumana, her father Zolile Sekeleni and prison warders who have all been arrested.
On Thursday, Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola told members of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services that the police identified Bester by his fingerprints and past crimes he committed in the country.
“This person does not have an identity document, so the criminal records were the only way to confirm it is indeed Bester. He is a South African. The person who served at the Mangaung Correctional Services Centre is the same person the Tanzanian authorities arrested. When he arrived here, we also ran fingerprints. He is a South African. He is Thabo Bester.”
