Cape Town — A rapist and murderer who escaped after faking his death in a South African prison cell and spent more than 10 months on the run has been arrested in Tanzania, two South African cabinet ministers reported on Saturday.
In a live news conference from Pretoria, the ministers said Tanzanian authorities detained the escapee, Thabo Bester, late on Friday night as he travelled from Arusha toward the Kenyan border. He was arrested alongside Dr Nandipha Maguduma, an alleged accomplice in his May 2022 escape, and an unnamed Mozambican national.
South Africa’s Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, and the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola, announced that a team would be sent to Tanzania on Sunday to secure the return of those arrested. They praised the Tanzanian government’s cooperation as “exemplary.” Lamola noted that, because Bester is an escaped criminal, he can simply be deported back to South Africa, although extradition proceedings may also be considered.
Bester, known in South Africa as “the Facebook rapist” for luring women via social media before assaulting them, was serving a life sentence for rape and murder. Dr Maguduma was reportedly seen with Bester in a restaurant in March of this year and is likely to face trial herself. Cele added that those arrested were in possession of multiple passports, but none showed entry stamps for Tanzania.
When Bester originally escaped, authorities claimed he had died in a fire in his prison cell. The ministers announced that DNA analysis of the body found in the cell did not match Bester. The autopsy further revealed that the deceased had suffered blunt‑force trauma to the head and was already dead before the arson incident.
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