Cape Town – National police commissioner General Fannie Masemola has rejected claims made by convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester that the state stole his luxury items worth millions.
Bester’s lawyer, Peter Matee, gave the court a list of items that had allegedly been taken from Bester by police and correctional services staff when he was arrested in Tanzania in April.
He claimed these items were collectively worth R40.14-million, belonged to Bester and were still missing.
The list of items provided to the court included:
- iPhone 14 Pro Max, worth R36,000
- Samsung S32, worth R23,000
- Samsung Z4, worth R40,000
- Ipad 16, worth R18,000
- Macbook air 16, worth R12,500
- Macbook pro 16, worth R34,000
- Burberry Card Holder, R15,500
- Bravery sunglasses, R11,500
- Tom Ford sunglasses, R9,500
- HP Laptop, R41,000
- Louis Vuitton laptop bag, R51,000
- Marriage ring, R350,000
- 2 x Apex 2 watches, each worth R2.5-million
- 2 x FM watches, each worth R2.5-million
- 2 x Rolex Oyster watches, each worth R2.6-million
- PP watch, R1.9-million
- Cash, South African Rands, R295,000
- Cash, Tanzanian shillings, 7.2-million (R54,668)
- Cash, Zambian Kwacha, 1.4-million (R1,400-million)
- Cash, Euros, 500,000 (R10.3-million)
- Cash, Swiss Francs, 150,000 (R3.2-million)
But Masemola said that the claims were false and that only two cellphones and a laptop were confiscated from Bester and his girlfriend upon their arrival from Tanzania.
“On arrival at Lanseria Airport, police confiscated two cellphones and a laptop, that’s what we know and that’s what we are aware of. That’s the only property that was given to us by the department of home affairs on his arrival,” he said.
National Commissioner of SAPS Gen Fannie Masemola responds to a case of theft opened by Thabo Bester. He confirms police are in possession of two cellphones and a laptop that were confiscated and placed in the SAP 13 for investigation purposes👇🏻listen… pic.twitter.com/MWVZRVHp4x
— Athlenda Mathe (@AthlendaM) August 12, 2023
He added: “We are aware the Tanzanian police told the delegation that went to Tanzania that Bester did pay a lawyer in Tanzania with watches. We don’t know how many. So if he had cash on him, how would he pay a lawyer for consultation with watches instead of using cash?
“We don’t know about the cash. Maybe he can go and ask in Tanzania. I don’t know, but we are only aware of one laptop and two cellphones currently in our stores, as we always keep the property for those detained.”
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
