South Africa: Thabo Bester Prison Break – Two Men in Court, Charged With Murder

Former prison warder Senohe Matsoara and Zolile Sekeleni, the father of Thabo Bester’s partner Nandipha Magudumana, appeared before the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Tuesday on charges linked to Bester’s escape from Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022. Their hearing was postponed to Monday, 17 April, for a formal bail application.

Both men face multiple charges, including murder, defeating the ends of justice, and aiding an escape. In addition, Sekeleni is charged with fraud, while Matsoara faces an arson charge. According to the charge sheet, they are accused of intentionally killing a person in March 2022 in the Mangaung district of the Free State.

Convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester escaped from the maximum‑security prison, which was operated by the multinational security company G4S, on 3 May 2022. On the night of the escape, an unidentified male body was brought into Bester’s cell and set alight. GroundUp reports that Matsoara, then a G4S employee, was on duty in Bester’s cell block that night. He was suspended shortly after the fire and dismissed in September 2022.

Days after the escape, Nandipha Magudumana collected the body from the state morgue, claiming to be Bester’s romantic partner. The police subsequently confiscated the body. Magudumana later approached the Pretoria High Court, asserting that she was Bester’s customary‑law wife and submitting an affidavit from her father as proof of lobola negotiations. In her affidavit, she states that her father and an assistant retrieved the corpse from a morgue in Soweto on 13 May 2022.

Matsoara, 38, and Sekeleni, 65, were remanded back into custody by Magistrate Mohlolo Kgabisi. Their lawyers—Themba Diba for Sekeleni and Kagisho Moruri for Matsoara—both agreed to the postponement. Prosecutor Sello Matlhoko requested that the suspects be detained separately, and Magistrate Kgabisi granted the request. Matsoara will be held at Brandfort Correctional Centre, while Sekeleni will be detained at the Bainsvlei Police Station.