Three individuals believed to be involved in the high-profile escape of convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester have been apprehended and are set to appear at the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court on Wednesday.
The suspects, aged between 37 and 47, were taken into custody on Monday evening for their alleged role in aiding Bester to escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022.
All three suspects are former employees of G4S, a private security company contracted to manage the correctional facility at the time of Bester’s escape.
The police confirmed the arrests in a statement on Tuesday: “One suspect was arrested at his home in Botshabelo while the other two were arrested at their places of residence in Bloemfontein. All three were arrested on Monday evening.
“[They] all face a charge of assisting an inmate to escape from lawful custody, violation of a corpse and corruption.”
The development brings the total number of arrests in Bester’s case to 12. The police said they have not ruled out the possibility of making more arrests as investigations continue.
Last week, the case against the first nine suspects including Bester and his partner Nandipha Magudumana was postponed to August.
It remains to be seen whether the group nabbed on Monday will be joined with the other accused in the ongoing legal proceedings.
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