In May last year, the department of correctional services reported Bester was found dead in his single cell.
“His cell had been set on fire and he was found to have burn wounds,” said DCS spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo at the time.
Last week, police minister Bheki Cele said police were searching for the convicted rapist and murderer after DNA tests confirmed the charred body was not Bester's.
Phiri said heads would roll and consequence management would be instituted once the investigation was concluded.
The Sunday Times reported that a person using Bester’s name committed an armed business robbery in Heidelberg, Gauteng, in October 2018 and a “common robbery” in Ratanda in June 2019. The police have also linked this person to another robbery in 2012 in Mpumalanga.
In all cases, the charges against him were withdrawn.
At the time the crimes were committed, Bester would have been serving his life term in the Bloemfontein jail — which is privately run by security company G4S — 400km from Ratanda and Heidelberg. Deeds records searches show Bester’s grandmother lived in Ratanda.
TimesLIVE
Justice ministry 'has no record' of tip-off email on Thabo Bester's escape
The email was allegedly sent a month after Bester's 'staged death' and a follow-up email was sent a few months later, with no response received for either
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Image: File
The ministry of justice says there is no record of a tip-off email received by deputy minister Phathekile Holomisa alerting him about the escape of convicted serial rapist Thabo Bester from custody.
According to a GroundUp report, the email was sent by a prison warder from Mangaung prison, where Bester was serving his sentence. In the email sent in June, just a month after Bester's alleged “staged” death, the warder asked Holomisa if he was aware that the inmate who allegedly burnt to death in his prison cell was not Bester and that Bester had escaped from prison.
According to the report, the warder sent a follow-up email to Holomisa in November, repeating the same information but again received no response from the deputy minister.
The spokesperson for the ministry of justice, Chrispin Phiri, told TimesLIVE that Holomisa had no record of the email but said the department was after closely investigations that have been launched since it emerged last week that Bester could still be well and alive.
DNA 'doesn’t confirm' body found in prison is Thabo Bester’s: Bheki Cele
In May last year, the department of correctional services reported Bester was found dead in his single cell.
“His cell had been set on fire and he was found to have burn wounds,” said DCS spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo at the time.
Last week, police minister Bheki Cele said police were searching for the convicted rapist and murderer after DNA tests confirmed the charred body was not Bester's.
Phiri said heads would roll and consequence management would be instituted once the investigation was concluded.
The Sunday Times reported that a person using Bester’s name committed an armed business robbery in Heidelberg, Gauteng, in October 2018 and a “common robbery” in Ratanda in June 2019. The police have also linked this person to another robbery in 2012 in Mpumalanga.
In all cases, the charges against him were withdrawn.
At the time the crimes were committed, Bester would have been serving his life term in the Bloemfontein jail — which is privately run by security company G4S — 400km from Ratanda and Heidelberg. Deeds records searches show Bester’s grandmother lived in Ratanda.
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