Cape Town — Police Minister Bheki Cele says police are close to finding the “sharks” who helped convicted murderer and “Facebook rapist” Thabo Bester to escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre.
Cele’s remarks came following the arrest of two more former G4S employees.
The pair, Tieho Frans Makhotsa and Nastassja Jansen, were arrested in Bloemfontein on Monday.
They appeared before the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, together with Bester’s girlfriend Nandipha Magudumana and her three co-accused – former G4S security supervisor Senohe Matsoara, suspended G4S guard Motenyane John Masukela, and Integritron CCTV technician technician Teboho James Lipholo.
Cele said the arrest of the high-level people involved in Bester’s prison escape is imminent, TimesLIVE reported.
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“What is very clear is all [the] people who have been arrested will have to tell us who sent them because they could not have done this thing on their own,” Cele was quoted as saying.
“We are satisfied the team is doing good work there. We don’t want to push the team. We want them to find their way up to the level where we believe this thing originated. We know it originated with Bester, but he could not have dealt with the small fish. At a certain point, we’ll have to get sharks in the matter.”
According to EWN, Cele said more arrests were imminent.
“It’s going to be a long, white, cold season. We believe that we are still at the level where it cannot end on. These are former workers, though they have retired, they have been arrested,” the report quoted Cele as saying.
Meanwhile, The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has cut ties with G4S.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the DCS said the decision fell in line with the concession agreement and a termination notice of 90 days has been given to Bloemfontein Correctional Services (BCC).
For Immediate Release
2 May 2023MEDIA ADVISORY: DCS TO TERMINATE CONCESSION CONTRACT AT BLOEMFONTEIN CORRECTIONAL CENTRE pic.twitter.com/m2LUtPBx6j
— Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services ?? (@Min_JCS) May 2, 2023
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
