Prison break fugitive Thabo Bester back in South African jail

A fugitive rapist and murderer who left a burnt corpse in his cell during a daring jailbreak has returned to prison in South Africa after fleeing to Tanzania, officials said Thursday.

The case has embarrassed authorities and sparked fresh outrage over the competence of South Africa's police and criminal justice system.

Dubbed the "Facebook rapist", Thabo Bester -- who was sentenced to life in prison for rape, robbery and murder in 2012 -- lured victims on the social media platform before raping and robbing them. He killed at least one victim.

He escaped from a privately-run prison in Bloemfontein almost a year ago -- but police said they only found out last month.

In May 2022, the charred body of a man was found in Bester's cell, leading prison authorities to believe at first that he had set himself on fire.

DNA evidence later revealed the body belonged to someone else, and police launched a murder investigation late last month.

Bester was arrested last Friday by Tanzanian police along with a woman with whom he is reportedly romantically involved, and a Mozambican accomplice.

They were caught in the town of Arusha, while they were said to be making their way to the Kenyan boarder.

24-hour surveillance

Bester and the woman, a celebrity doctor and social media influencer, were flown back by specially chartered plane which landed in Lanseria airport north of Johannesburg in the early hours of Thursday morning.

"We can confirm that these fugitives have been returned to South Africa", Justice Minister Ronald Lamola told a press conference in Cape Town.

Bester was taken to the Kgosi Mampuru II correctional facility in Pretoria, Lamola said, thanking the Tanzanian government.

Bester will be kept under 24-hour surveillance and guarded by "highly trained" officers, according to the justice ministry.

His alleged lover and accomplice was under arrest pending a court appearance later on Thursday, he said.

She faces charges of murder, violation of bodies, fraud, and aiding and abetting the escape of a prisoner, according to the police.

Four others have been recently arrested in connection with the escape plot, including the celebrity doctor's father.

The father, who allegedly aided Bester's prison break, was earlier this week charged with murder in connection with the man found dead in Bester's cell.

Case grips nation

Bester's case resurfaced in October last year when local investigative news organisation GroundUp reported on the mystery surrounding his death.

In March, the outlet reported damning evidence suggesting the deputy minister of correctional services had been informed by a prison warder about Bester's escape as early as June 2022 -- yet nothing was done.

South African authorities, following mounting pressure from the public after details of his escape were uncovered, began efforts to apprehend him in late March.

The correctional services ministry announced last month that it would not renew its contract with G4S, the British multinational private security company which ran the private prison Bester escaped from.

The prison has been taken over by South African authorities pending the outcome of the ongoing investigations.

The London-headquartered security company was also summoned to parliament by a committee looking into the case.

President Cyril Ramaphosa was "disturbed" by the escape, his spokesman said on Wednesday.