G4S, the global security firm in charge of the Mangaung maximum security prison where fugitive Thabo Bester was incarcerated, has expressed displeasure at being excluded from the parliamentary briefing regarding the controversial escape.
On Tuesday, the portfolio committee on justice and correctional services is set to receive first-hand testimony from the Department of Correctional Services regarding the escape.
The company confirmed on Monday that it has sent a letter to the committee requesting an official invitation to testify.
G4S argues that it has cooperated with relevant authorities since the events that unfolded at the Mangaung Correctional Centre when Bester escaped.
However, due to statutory obligations under the Correctional Services Act, the company is unable to make public statements about the events or its cooperation in investigations.
Hence it requested to appear before the committee.
“From the outset of the events that occurred on May 3 2022 at the Mangaung Correctional Centre, G4S Correction Services [G4SCS] has fully cooperated with various investigations by the relevant authorities and continues to do so,” it said in a statement.
“G4SCS is bound by statutory obligations in the Correctional Services Act and is therefore unable to issue public statements on the events or its cooperation with the subsequent investigations.
“Therefore, the G4SCS would welcome the opportunity to engage with the parliamentary portfolio committee on justice and correctional services and has written to the committee requesting that it issues a formal invitation to G4SCS [SA] to appear before the committee to address this matter under parliamentary privilege.”
It is currently not clear why G4S was not invited to the meeting by either the department or the committee, and it is also not known whether the company will be invited to any future meetings on the matter.
In 2012, Bester was given a life sentence for committing rape and murder, earning himself the moniker “Facebook rapist”.
However, even while serving time in prison, he managed to orchestrate multiple business scams, allegedly with the help of his partner, a medical doctor named Nandipha Magudumana.
The couple’s scams defrauded innocent clients of millions of rands.
To this day, Bester and Magudumana remain on the run, with their case still unresolved.
Also read: Dr Magudumana’s brother demanded R100k to keep quiet about Bester saga
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