By: Natasha Archary

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has suspended officials on duty the night Thabo Bester escaped from the maximum-security, Mangaung Correctional Center.
In a media briefing on Thursday, 30 March, the department’s National Commissioner, Makhgoti Thobakgale said the suspensions come due to the officers failure to monitor and oversee how the contractor security guards carried out their jobs.
While the private contractor, G4S has since suspended and dismissed three of its employees, DCS says the lack of security and protocol on the night Bester carried out his escape was unacceptable.
G4S suspended three employees shortly after the incident. All three have since been dismissed between September 2022 and January 2023 for reasons relating to their conduct on the night of 03 May 2022 when Bester escaped.
Despite the dismissals of their employees, the private contractor still maintains that Bester died in the fire that broke out in his prison cell.
“All systems that were supposed to hold, didn’t hold.
The officials who have received suspension notices, failed to monitor and oversee how G4S contractors carried out their jobs. They should have ensured that these breaches didn’t occur.
For example there was a vehicle that entered the facility without a pass.”
Media Statement | Thabo Bester Escape
— Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services 🇿🇦 (@Min_JCS) March 30, 2023
Statement by the Department of Correctional Services Delivered by National Commissioner Of The Department of Correctional Services Mr. Makhgoti Thobakgale On 30 March 2023, At Mangaung Correctional Center pic.twitter.com/vAKfNIBHw2
The Department of Correctional Services may find itself facing a legal battle should Bester’s victims decide to sue for failing their legal duty to keep him behind bars for the duration of his sentence.
Bester was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for murder and multiple rapes.
Two months after Bester escaped from prison, he was spotted shopping in Sandton City with celebrity aesthetics “doctor”, Dr Nandipha Magudumana.
The doctor is reportedly married to Bester through customary law and is believed to also be on the run with him.
Also read: KZN police concerned with ‘unconfirmed’ reports of arrests in AKA murder investigation



