The Mangaung Prison from which Thabo Bester escaped. African News Agency (ANA)
The sheer arrogance of Thabo Bester, in brazenly appearing in public after his spectacular escape from prison, is matched by the arrogance of G4S and sheer incompetence of the Correctional Services Department in explaining the lapses that led to his escape.
G4S has barely said anything on the matter, other than to insist that Bester had indeed died in a fire in his cell, when DNA tests on the body found after the blaze had already proved this was not so.
And Correctional Services and the police were too slow to react when video and pictures of Bester in the company of a Dr (this too is being disputed now) Nandipha Magudumana surfaced.
One would assume that Magudumana would have become a figure of keen interest to the authorities once it became clear that the body in the cell wasn’t Bester’s.
But that would be to assume too much. Magudumana (and, presumably, Bester) moved out of her rented home last week and has gone into hiding, taking with her the best chance of nabbing him again.
The government has since expressed embarrassment at the debacle, as details of the escape and fluffed probe emerge.
We too are embarrassed ‒ to have such corrupt and incompetent nincompoops in charge.
Justice for Bester’s victims demands he be returned to his cell.
Please note there will be no Independent on Saturday next week, the Easter weekend. Publication resumes on April 15.
The Independent on Saturday