By Linda Pona
While the modern-day Bonnie and Clyde story of convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester and Dr Nandipha Magudumana has fascinated the country for the past few weeks, it is problematic. I echo the sentiments of ActionSA provincial chairperson Patricia Kopane who says this case of Magudumana highlights South Africa’s dysfunctional justice system where convicted criminals can walk freely for months without the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) intervention.
What makes the Bester case interesting is the innovative way that he escaped prison. This is after he allegedly died in prison after a fire broke out in his cell on 3 May 2022, as first reported by GroundUp. After his escape, Bester gained access to fake passports and crossed borders to get to other countries. All the while, medical doctor Magudumana claimed his corpse as his alleged Customary Law wife. The two were later arrested in Tanzania and deported back to South Africa on an R1.4 million flight, which was the cheapest option, according to Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.
Even though Bester managed to escape and stay out of prison for almost a year, there are other instances in South Africa where there have been dozens of prison escapes reported over the years, according to News 24.
For instance, the annual reports of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) 2021/2022 show that 22 inmates escaped from various prisons nationwide. This is surprisingly the lowest number of escapes in the past 27 years. In Makhanda last year in October, seven convicts escaped the Waainek Correctional Service facility by using a hacksaw to cut through the window bars of a cell. Since the escape, some of the convicts have been arrested, but only as recently as this month, April, one of the convicts was eventually rearrested.
All these prison break instances show corruption in the justice system, as guards are willing to take bribes to help prisoners escape. Then in the example of Bester, his escape shows an even higher level of corruption. The government pays the private security company G4S R1 billion to manage the Mangaung Prison facility, yet Bester could do a Houdini and disappear from the prison.
