Reported by Kerry Howard Mwesigwa
A notorious South African criminal, Thabo Bester, who earned the nickname “Facebook Rapist” for using the social media platform to woe women, has been arrested in Tanzania after escaping from a maximum-security prison in 2021. Bester was serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of one of the women he met through Facebook. Last year, it was reported that he had died in a prison fire, but his escape came to light after news of sightings of him emerged in South Africa. A DNA analysis of the burned body thought to be his revealed that it was not his.
The escape raised questions about whether prison officials aided him in his escape, and an ongoing investigation has led to the arrest of two men. Senohe Matsoara, a former G4S employee, accused of facilitating Bester’s escape from the Mangaung maximum security prison, while Cornelius Sekeleni, the father of disgraced celebrity doctor Nandipha Magudumana, accused of aiding in the escape. Both men appeared in court on charges of murder, defeating the administration of justice, arson, fraud, and aiding an escape.
Bester was caught in Tanzania with his girlfriend and another suspect, and he will be extradited to South Africa to face charges. He was convicted in 2012 for the rape and murder of his model girlfriend Nomfundo Tyhulu and was found guilty a year earlier of raping and robbing two other women. His escape sparked outrage in South Africa, which has one of the highest rates of sexual assault in the world. The British-owned security company G4S, which ran the prison where he was held, has been accused of helping him flee, and three employees were dismissed in connection with the incident.
