Cape Town – Police on Tuesday raided the last known residence of convicted rapist and murderer, Thabo Bester, and his partner, Doctor Nandipha Magudumana, in Hyde Park, Johannesburg.
Bester is on the run after escaping from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein, last year.
The couple are believed to have fled from the luxury home a number of weeks ago.
Bester was reported to have died in a fire in his single cell in May last year while serving a life sentence for the murder of one woman and rape of two models.
However, the Department of Correctional Services confirmed that Bester actually escaped from maximum prison after an investigation revealed that the body found in his cell at the time was not his.
According to EWN, police declined to give more details after investigators swooped on the last known hideout of the escaped rapist.
BREAKING #ThaboBester Police search Bester’s last hideout. I’ll be coming to you live at 17h00 with the latest. Tune in to @eNCA Dstv 403.#eNCA pic.twitter.com/Xr9KRgrTCQ
— Silindelo Masikane (@Sli_Masikane) April 4, 2023
Forensic investigators meticulously went about their business at the premises on 2nd Road in Hyde Park, photographing parts of the property while hauling out large plastic bags, filled with evidence, and loading them into state vehicles, the report said.
“As the SAPS, we are reiterating that we won’t at this stage give a blow-by-blow update on the progress of investigations. We once again urge the media to give the detectives space to do their work,” the report quoted police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe as saying.
According to News24, the residence is a street away from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s house, and two blocks from the home Julius Malema rents from tobacco dealer Adriano Mazzotti.
Magudumana was remodelling the next-door property for a clinic, but the home was left an empty shell with rubble in the exterior, the report said.
Meanwhile, MPs were left enraged on Tuesday after G4S, the security company managing the Mangaung prison, failed to show up at a portfolio committee on justice and correctional services meeting to discuss the events that led to the escape.
G4S claimed it was not issued an invitation to take part in the meeting by the Department of Justice and Correctional Services, Times Live reported.
The company said it had been fully co-operative with various investigations by relevant authorities since 3 May 2022 and would continue to do so, the report said.
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Picture: Twitter/@Sli_Masikane
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
