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South African Rapist, Killer Thabo Bester Arrested in Tanzania

A rapist and murderer who escaped after faking his death in a South African prison cell, then spent more than 10 months at liberty, has been arrested in Tanzania, two South African cabinet ministers have confirmed. Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, and the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola, said the escapee, Thabo Bester, was arrested by Tanzanian authorities late on Friday, April 07 as he headed from Arusha to the Kenyan border.

In a new development in this case, the father of Thabo Bester's alleged accomplice Nandipha Maguduma has been arrested together with a former prison warder. They were charged with murder.

Also arrested with him were Nandipha Maguduma, an alleged accomplice in his escape in May 2022, and a third person, an unnamed Mozambican national.

Lamola said that since Bester is an escaped criminal, he needed simply to be deported back to South Africa. Bester gained notoriety in South Africa as "the Facebook rapist" because he lured women on social media, then raped them. He was serving a life sentence for rape and murder.

InFocus

Lisa Nelson / GroundUp

While in prison in Mangaung, Thabo Bester ran a business and even appeared by video link at an event.

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