Cape Town – After initial reports suggested that Simphiwe “Simz” Ngema was not one of the celebrities who visited convicted murderer and “Facebook rapist” Thabo Bester in Mangaung Correctional Centre, the actress has reportedly come out and admitted that she did visit him because she “wanted answers”.
According to TimesLIVE, Simz took to Instagram, and revealed in a now-deleted statement that she visited Bester some five years ago and that she did not aid Bester’s escape from prison.
Bester escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein on 3 May 2022 when he faked his death in a fire.
He was recaptured and arrested in Tanzania in April.
He is currently being held at Kgosi Mampuru II Prison in Pretoria, and is due back in the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court on 16 May.
Simz said she met Bester as “TK Motspe” and was booked to work for an event through his company, 21st Century.
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“Bester was working in the entertainment industry and introduced himself as TK Motsepe, and that’s how we made contact. He seemed well connected and was able to organise meetings and big events, which I and many other public figures were booked for.
“Until this day, I was never paid for some of the events that I was booked for in the 21st century.
“In 2018, I went to the prison to demand answers; it was a difficult time in my life, and he owed me money,” Simz was quoted as saying in the statement.
She added: “I’ve been extremely open about everything to those that have been investigating, and I have nothing to hide. I am not the person that went there on a regular basis, nor was I the last person to visit before his escape.
“This was five years ago, and I have supporting documents at my disposal that prove I had only visited on one occasion. Dated: April 5, 2018. The media should stop vilifying his victims and using us as a tool for distraction because we also want answers,” she said.
“Stop using his victims as a tool for distraction. Someone needs to make those records public. So many innocent people are getting hurt from all of this. My family can’t deal with this again. After five years.”
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IOL reported that Simz deleted the post barely an hour after she shared the statement.
According to the report, if Simz revealed that Bester introduced himself as TK Motsepe, then who did she visit in prison?
“This is just one among a pool of questions that have been raised on social media, as many believe there’s more to the story than meets the eye,” the report said.
According to EWN, while incarcerated at Mangaung Correctional Centre, Bester ran a glamourous media company, GroundUp previously reported. The company was falsely represented as a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox, and was behind the “Women in Media” conference, which proved to be fraudulent.
Pictures and video footage emerged of 21st Century Media’s launch in 2018, held at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton. Among the guests were Mzwanele Manyi, Ngema, Amanda Du Pont, and Yvonne Chaka Chaka, all members of Johannesburg’s high society, the report said.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
