TIMELINE: Everything we know about the Thabo Bester and Dr Nandipha Magudumana saga
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With the pretrial for convicted killer and rapist, Thabo Bester and his co-accused expected to get underway from Wednesday, February 21, let’s take a look back at how the case unfolded.
We take a look at how the notorious Facebook rapist lived the life of a free man, for a year, in upmarket Joburg suburbs after escaping from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein in May 2022.
After faking his death and effectively escaping the Mangaung Correctional Centre, Bester lived a high life with his celebrity doctor girlfriend Dr Nandipha Magudumana. The pair shared a R12m Hyde Park property, which they rented for over R40 000 per month.
When Bester’s escape came to light, thanks to an expose by GroundUp, he and Magudumana reportedly escaped SA and were arrested in Arusha, Tanzania on April 8, 2023.
The pair were brought back to SA where they face charges including murder, fraud and violation of a dead body.
– May 2022
On May 3, 2022, Bester escapes from Mangaung Correctional Centre with the help of G4S and Integriton employees.
G4S security supervisor Senohe Matsoara and Integriton’s CCTV technician Tebogo James Lipholo are among those who allegedly assist Bester escape. Also assisting Bester, is Magudumana, along with her father, Zolile Sekeleni.
Also in May, Bester moves in at one of the properties he and Magudumana leased in Coleraine Park in Joburg.
Magudumana moves her parents out of a second property in Hyde Park, to Coleraine Park, and Bester moves into the secluded Hyde Park mansion with high walls.
Also in May last 2023, Magudumana claims the body of the man found in Bester’s cell.
Parliament heard how Magudumana had the body transported to a mortuary in Soweto, before she was set to cremate it.
It has now emerged that the SAPS then confiscated the body after they found that Magudumana had claimed another body in April, claiming it was a relative, only for the body to be found floating in a river.
Also in May, Magudumana approached the North Gauteng High Court in a bid to seek relief against the police, in order for her to be allowed to cremate the body.
She had claimed to be Bester’s customary wife, but it was found that she was still in a civil union with Dr Mkhuseli Magudumana, per home affairs records at the time.
Judge Edwin Cameron, the head of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services, who also appeared in Parliament, said the police should have ensured Magudumana was arrested for perjury solely based on the untruths she had presented to court.
Parliament also heard from top police officials that an affidavit submitted by Magudumana in the court case had been signed by an officer who had left the police force months earlier.
Police officials confirm to MPs that Magudumana was never questioned, despite many unanswered questions.
– June 2022
Bester and Magudumana are photographed at a Woolworths supermarket in Sandton. This only emerges in March 2023 publicly in a GroundUp report.
He is photographed sporting long hair and sunglasses.
– July 2022
Meanwhile, as the battle over the corpse continued between police and Magudumana, police conducted a DNA test with Bester’s mother.
Police said in Parliament that their investigation was stalled by Bester’s mother, who had initially been uncooperative with the police. His mother has since indicated that despite the possibility of being called as a witness in her son’s case, she has no desire to take part in legal proceedings.
– August 2022
An autopsy conducted on the unknown body found in Cell 35 finds that the deceased, initially thought to be Bester, had no signs of smoke inhalation, but had been murdered. His cause of death was according to the autopsy, blunt force trauma to the head.
Judge Cameron told MPs he alerted SAPS and DCS in August, that their preliminary investigation found that Bester did not die in Cell 35.
Judge Cameron also told MPs police had asked him to keep the matter confidential, but he told MPs he shared some of the information regarding the Bester escape with the non-profit news agency GroundUp.
– September 2022
A Sandton dietician by the name of Palesa, said he had an encounter with Bester at her office.
She said the meeting came about after multiple different messages and calls from him and different people for what seems to be a modelling opportunity for her.
She said he showed up at her office wearing the same sunglasses as seen in the supermarket picture.
She said during the meeting he mentioned many things such as photoshoots, international trips and property shoots, which made no sense to her. After realising she was not interested, he left.
Matsoara is fired by G4S on suspicions he assisted Bester escape and following a disciplinary hearing wherein he could not explain some of his behaviour on the night Bester escaped in May 2022.
– October 2022
A Cape Town woman takes to social media to share her ordeal Facebook rapist Thabo Bester, admitting to having had sex with him after being wined and dined by the convicted murderer.
The woman, who shared her ordeal anonymously with one of Bester’s victims, said she met Bester in Cape Town in October 2022.
Bester had been using the alias Katlego or KC. He drove a black Porsche SUV with Gauteng number plates, and had told the woman he was a director of Arum Properties.
They partied in Cubana and Bilboa, along with two young women who were in Bester’s company.
The woman said she was left devastated by the situation and even though that was the last time she saw him, the news of his alleged real identity and his past left her shocked, scared and disgusted.
– March 2023
Bester and Magudumana flee from their Hyde Park home and return to the Coleraine Park property.
GroundUp publishes a report saying Bester escaped from prison.
Bester, Magudumana and her two children check into Hyde Park Southern Sun Hotel.
– March 15, 2023
Magudumana drops her children at school and fails to collect them.
On the same day, Magudumana’s husband, Mkhuseli, is called to collect the children from school.
– March 16, 2023
Bester and Magudumana flee SA through the Beitbridge border.
On the same day, a GroundUp expose details how Bester escaped from prison.
– March 17, 2023
Police and DCS tracking teams follow the fugitive couple into Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
– March 18, 2023
Bester and his lover enter Zambia, en route to Tanzania.
– March 26, 2023
After much earlier denial, the Department of Correctional Services finally confirms that Bester is alive and that he did indeed escape from Cell 35.
A case of murder is opened over the dead body found burnt in Bester’s prison cell.
– March 29, 2023
Having posted a week earlier that she would be back at work at her aesthetics business, Magudumana, unsurprisingly fails to show up at work.
– April 7, 2023
Bester and Magudumana, along with their Mozambican accomplice, are finally arrested in Tanzania.
Several passports are found in their possession, including two passport of one Dr Pashy, real name Mmereka Ntshani.
She later claims her passport was stolen by Magudumana.
– April 8, 2023
Matsoara and Magudumana’s father, Sekeleni, are arrested for murder, aiding and abetting, fraud and assisting Bester escape.
Sekeleni is arrested in Port Edward, while Matsoara is arrested in Bloemfontein.
– April 12, 2023
Matsoara and Sekeleni are charged with murder as they appear at the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court.
Meanwhile in Parliament, the portfolio committee on justice and correctional services finally gets underway as MPs finally get a chance to demand answers from G4S, Integriton, JICS, DCS and SAPS regarding Bester’s escape.
Later in the evening, Integritron CCTV technician Tebogo James Lipholo, who is accused of tampering with CCTV cameras on the night Bester escaped, is arrested in Bloem.
Police also recover Magudumana’s Porsche Cayenne in the North West. A 28-year-old is taken in for questioning.
– April 13, 2023
Accompanied by top officials from the police, home affairs and correctional services, Bester and Magadumana land at Lanseria Airport in the wee hours in a private jet after being deported by Tanzania.
Bester is sent to the Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria under heavy police guard.
Magudumana appears in Bloemfontein court on charges of aiding and abetting an escaper, murder, violation of bodies and fraud. The charges against Bester are yet to be confirmed.
Integritron CCTV technician Tebogo James Lipholo, who is accused of tampering with CCTV cameras on the night Bester escaped, appears in court alongside Magudumana.
Lipholo is said to have switched off the cameras on the night Bester escaped at the Mangaung Correctional Centre.
Most cameras are focused on Magudumana, who uses a mask and a jacket to hide from the cameras, but here id Lipholo on the dock.
Magistrate Motlholo Khabisi adjourned the proceedings and remanded the case for Magudumana and her co-accused's bail application.
– April 14, 2023
The Department of Home Affairs provided an update into their role in the investigation into Bester’s escape.
Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said the Mozambican national arrested with Bester and Magadumana was not brought to SA. He said Bester was found with an American passport upon his arrest.
He also confirmed Bester did not have a South African ID document, but confirmed an internal investigation found he was born at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, in June 1986.
Home Affairs said Bester’s mother, Maria Mabaso, only applied and was issued with an ID document at the age of 37, in 2002.
Bester appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court under heavy police guard. His matter was postponed to May.
– April 17, 2023
The four accused of aiding Bester’s escape and the murder of the unknown man burnt in Cell 35 appear again before the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court.
This presented a case where father and daughter both appeared on the dock as accused parties.
Magudumana, Sekeleni, Matsoara and Lipholo appeared before a packed courtroom.
Sekeleni was granted R10 000 bail and the murder charge against him was withdrawn.
The court ordered him to report to the Port Edward Police Station once a week. He was told to remain within the magisterial district of Port Edward and was barred from contacting any State witnesses in the case.
Sekeleni is due back in court on May 16, 2023.
For the other three accused - Magudumana, Matsoara and Lipholo, they have been remanded in custody and are set to appear in court on May 3 for a formal bail application.
Magudumana, who has been appearing in court sporting a surgical mask and hoodie in a bid to hide her face from the media cameras, was instructed by the magistrate to show her face in court.
– April 18, 2023
Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has poured cold water on Thabo Bester’s bid to question his deportation from Tanzania in court. Motsoaledi said when Bester was nabbed with Dr Nandipha Magudumana in Arusha he was issued with an emergency travel certificate as he did not have a South African passport.
Justice Minister Ronald Lamola says an investigation is under way into allegations that Thabo Bester was let out of the Mangaung facility to enjoy ‘luxurious holidays’ with his lover, Dr Nandipha Magudumana.
– April 19, 2023
A second G4S prison guard, who is accused of helping convicted rapist and murder Thabo Bester escape from the Mangaung prison, has been arrested by the police in Bloemfontein.
– April 20, 2023
G4S guard, Buti Masukela appears in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s court and is remanded in custody. He will appear again for a formal application on May 3 and 4 alongside the other co-accused. It is alleged that he was either on guard on the day the dead body was brought into the prison or was at the gate when Bester escaped.
– April 22 - 23
Police reveal that the charred remains found in Bester’s cell belonged to Katlego Bereng, a 30-year-old father of two who went missing in April 2022. He was the son of Batho Mpholo and Monica Matsie from Tembisa but occasionally lived with his grandmother in Bloemfontein. His father said DNA tests were conducted on Matsie following the discovery of the body in Bester's Mangaung cell.
A second round of DNA tests were done and police told the family on April 21 that Bereng's body was found in the cell. He allegedly died as a result of drug overdose and his body was taken to a government mortuary in Bloemfontein, allegations his family denies. The family says they are seeking justice for their son.
– May 1, 2023
Two former employees who were dismissed by G4S were arrested at their place of residence in Bloemfontein. They were arrested for assisting an inmate to escape from lawful custody and defeating the ends of justice.
– May 2, 2023
Department of Correctional Service terminated its concession contract with the Bloemfontein Correctional Services.
- May 3, 2023
Dr Nandipha Magudumana and her co-accused appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court. The matter has been postponed to May 11 for all parties to be prepared.
– May 11, 2023
Dr Nandipha Magudumana is expected to re-appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court again on May 16. It’s believed that more crucial evidence has come to light. The legal representative clarified that she was not abandoning her bail application but requested a postponement. The court ruled that she be remanded in custody pending her next appearance.
Moments before the accused appeared, media houses were issued with an addendum stating that on the days of the hearing of the formal bail applications, no live recording of the proceedings shall be permitted, this includes the testimony of witnesses called, the testimony of accused persons and cross-examination.
– May 17, 2023
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi reveals that hospital records from the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital showed that Maria Meisie Mabaso gave birth to Thabo Bester in 1986.
He said there was no need to prove that with DNA tests as the records were conclusive.
– May 22, 2023
At the ripe old age of 36, Thabo Bester has officially been issued with his first ID by the Department of Home Affairs in terms of the Identification Act.
His name now reflects on the National Population Register as opposed to him being referred to as an “unidentifiable person”.
– May 22, 2023
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has apologised to Dr Mmereka Ntshani, aka Dr Pashy on social media, whose two passports, including one that was expired, was found in Dr Nandipha Magudumana’s possession when she and Thabo Bester were detained in Tanzania.
The medical doctor issued the minister with a cease and desist letter to the minister, demanding he apologise for the statement he made about her in connection with Bester’s escape.
– May 30, 2023
Magistrate Mohlolo Khabisi has released Natassja Jansen on R10,000 bail. She is one of the G4S employees who allegedly assisted Thabo Bester to escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022.
– June 1, 2023
Dr Nandipha Magudumana turns to the Bloemfontein High Court in a bid to have her arrest declared illegal.
– June 5, 2023
Bloemfontein High Court Judge Phillip Loubser dismisses, with costs, Dr Nandipha Magudumana’s urgent application to have her arrest declared unlawful.
Magudumana brought an urgent application challenging her arrest, claiming she was abducted and not lawfully arrested.
She was represented by top international law advocate Anton Katz SC.
The lead investigator in the Thabo Bester saga dies by suicide after he allegedly shot and killed himself in Bloemfontein on Monday. He had been in court on duty on the Thabo Bester matter earlier.
He headed up the Free State organised crime unit.
– June 12, 2023
Yet another suspect is arrested in connection with Thabo Bester’s brazen escape. The 31-year-old Zimbabwean national allegedly helped the convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester escape custody.
On the same day, Dr Pashy confirmed that she fell victim to an alleged scam operated by convicted rapist and murderer, Thabo Bester, where she paid millions to a media company linked to her friend, Dr Nandipha Magudumana.
They had promised to link her with US Talk Show host, Oprah Winfrey, in an apparent scam. Magudumana and the doctor first met via social media in 2015 and they developed a friendship before she was introduced to Bester, who used the alias of TK Nkwana.
– June 14, 2023
Tshireledzo Ndou, the instructing attorney for convicted rapist and prison escapee Thabo Bester, is facing a case of attempted rape and assault. He was released on R1,000 bail.
– June 20, 2023
Thabo Bester appoints Kabelo Matee as his new lawyer of record.
– June 22, 2023
The SAPS explain why Dr Nandipha Magudumana was in shackles in court, despite a video showing her unshackled while getting off a police van.
– June 23, 2023
Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola explains why Thabo Bester has been appearing in court in civilian clothes, despite being a convicted prisoner.
Lamola said it was standard operating procedure for all accused to appear in court in civilian clothes. Bester has sported expensive brands including Louis Vuitton to court.
– June 27, 2023
Three G4S employees for allegedly helping convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester escape from lawful custody.
The latest arrests bring the number of people arrested in connection with -Bester’s escape to 12, including Bester himself.
– July 3, 2023
State prosecutor Sello Matlhoko said Thabang Mier, who is one of the accused who assisted Thabo Bester to escape, is granted R10,000 bail.
Mier faces a charge of aiding the escape of a prisoner, and because he had no previous convictions or pending matters, the State was not opposed to his bail.
Mier handed his passport over to the investigating officer on Monday and this information was also placed on record in court.
– July 18, 2023
Dr Nandipha Magudumana’s second request for an urgent application to declare her arrest in Tanzania unlawful is dismissed in the Bloemfontein High Court. She had filed an application for leave to appeal.
– August 8, 2023
Thabo Bester’s lawyers tell the court in Bloemfontein that expensive items, including luxury brand clothes, cash and cellphones, were stolen when they returned to the country from Tanzania.
Bester’s lawyer told the court that the following items had been stolen and a case opened at the Lanseria Airport Police Station.
– iPhone 14 Pro Max valued at R36,000
– Samsung S23 valued at R32,000
– Samsung Z4 valued at R40,000
– iPod 16 valued at R18,000
– Macbook Air 16 valued at R12,500
– Macbook Pro 16 valued at R34,600
– Burberry card holder valued at R15,500
– Burberry sunglasses valued at R11,500
– Tom Ford sunglasses valued at R9,500
– HP laptop valued at R41,000
– Louis Vuitton R51,000
– Wedding ring R350,000
– Two AMS watches valued at R2.5 million
– Two FM watches valued at R2.5 million
– Two Rolex watches valued at R2.6 million
– Another watch valued at R1,750 and
– Another item, only labelled as PP valued at R1.9 million
– Missing cash valued at R295,000
– Cash of US$36,000
– Tanzanian currency to the value of TSh7,200,000
– Zambian currency to the value of ZK1.4 million
– European pound to the value of £500,000
– Swiss Francs to the value of CHF150,000
Earlier, Thabo Bester and Dr Nandipha Magudumana saw each other in person for the first time since their arrest in March. They created a social media storm, as the social media erupted at how Magudumana looked at and interacted with her murderous boyfriend. They were sat next to each other.
– August 15, 2023
Correctional Services Commissioner Makgoth Samuel Thobakgale says a number of officials are in the firing line for allowing Thabo Bester to wear a Louis Vuitton sweater valued at around R15,000 to court last week.
Thobakgale said accused persons were allowed to wear private clothes when appearing in court; however, he emphasised the importance of respecting the court.
He said wearing the R15,000 sweater undermined the country’s criminal justice system. More here.
– August 25, 2023
In a surprising twist to the Thabo Bester escape saga, Dr Nandipha Magudumana issued a statement through her lawyers, claiming powerful politicians and business people were behind her suffering and incarceration at a Bloemfontein prison.
She named no names, but said she would divulge all when the time was right. More here.
– August 28, 2023
Dr Nandipha Magudumana will apply for bail at the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday and Wednesday. She is applying for bail four months after she was arrested in Arusha, Tanzania. The National Prosecuting Authority has confirmed it will oppose bail.
– August 29, 2023
Dr Nandipha Magudumana appeared at the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court, telling the court through her lawyers that she had been kidnapped and forced into the vehicle by Thabo Bester during their daring escape which ended with capture in Arusha, Tanzania. She claimed she was threatened by Bester.
However, the State, through an affidavit from investigating officer Lieutenant Colonel Tieho Flyman, dismissed the claims by Magudumana, telling the court in a lengthy affidavit that she had been a willing participant and described her as one of the masterminds, of Bester’s escape.
Flyman told the court that Magudumana, out of her own volition, deserted her two young children and chose to elope with Bester. He said she had been a co-conspirator in alleged fraud with Bester, including signing for rental properties, cars and businesses. He said Magudumana, a Tracker report confirmed, had also driven to KZN in her Porsche to fetch Bester after the May 2022 prison escape.
She had also booked boutique hotels in Mangaung, in March and April, just weeks before the escape plan was successfully carried out.
– August 30, 2023
Defence advocate Frans Dlamini, who is representing Nandipha Magudumana in her bail application has poked holes in the State’s submissions before the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court as they seek to deny her bail.
Dlamini said the State had posited that the matter was a schedule 5 offence, but in truth, they had only brought evidence before the court which showed the matter was a schedule 1 offence. They also said the State claimed it had an overwhelming case before the court, but they submitted that they had given the case no evidence to back up their claims.
The bail application, which was set out for two days, was not concluded and is expected back in court on Monday, September 4.
– September 4, 2023
Nandipha Magudumana celebrated her 35th birthday in the dock at the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court. She will know next Monday, September 11, if her bid for bail has succeeded.
The State told the court that Magudumana’s defence had failed to show cause why she should be released on bail. The State said Magudumana was facing a Schedule 5 offence, which meant the onus was on the defence to show why she should be granted bail. The defence had insisted the State had shown no evidence in its case against Magudumana.
– September 11, 2023
Nandipha Magudumana’s bail application was denied. She appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Monday where Magistrate Estelle de Lange said she was not convinced that any of Magudumana’s bail conditions would ensure that she would attend trial. De Lange further stated that Magudumana failed to satisfy the court that it was in the best interests of justice that she be granted bail. Magudumana was deemed, by the court, as a flight risk and bail was denied. The magistrate stated Magudumana, although she claimed she was taken across borders against her will by Bester, has the knowledge of fleeing without being flagged as she and Bester managed to convince everyone to work with them and pass several border posts.
Other accused in the Bester matter are former G4S prison warder Senohe Matsoara, Zanda Moyo, Zolile Cornelius Sekeleni, former Integritron Integrated Solutions camera technician Teboho Lipholo, suspended G4S employee Tieho Frans Makhotsa, former G4S guard Buti Masukela, suspended G4S employee Natassja Jansen and G4S employees, Joel Makhetha, Moeketsi Ramolula and Thabang Mier, who were all granted bail.
– October, 11, 2023
Dr Nandipha Magudumana collapsed before her appearance in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court. According to reports from the SABC, police and emergency medical services rushed to the holding cells to attend to Magudumana who fainted at the Park Road Police Station.
The State has withdrawn charges against three former G4S employees implicated in the case; Nastassja Jansen, Thabang Matthews Mier and Moeketsi April Ramolula.
The NPA said the case against the nine remaining accused was postponed to 21 February 2024 for a pre-trial conference in the High Court of South Africa: Free State Division.
– October, 12, 2023
Dr Nandipha Magudumana has filed assault charges against the Department of Correctional Services.
Free State police confirmed a common assault case was opened on Wednesday at the Park Road police station on Wednesday. Magudumana alleged that she was assaulted at the Kroonstad Correctional Centre where she is being held in the hospital wing.
– February 21, 2024
Thabo Bester, Dr Nandipha Magudumane, and seven co-accused have appeared in the High Court of South Africa: Free State Division sitting in Bloemfontein, and their matter was postponed to 05 June 2024, for purposes of a pre-trial Conference.
BOOK LAUNCHED
The Thabo Bester Story - The Facebook Rapist, The Celebrity Doctor And The Escape From Cell 35, a book written by the GroundUp journalists Marecia Damons and Daniel Steyn has been launched.
In the book, Damons and Steyn, the journalists who first exposed the scam, tell the full story, from Thabo and Nandipha's life stories and their unlikely love affair, all the way to his faked death and their eventual arrest, though in disguise, in Tanzania.
– NOTE TO READER: This article was first published on April 14, 2023. It is updated frequently as the story develops.
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