Where were they? State failure and Thabo Bester

GroundUp published the first story about Thabo Bester’s possible escape from prison on 8 November 2022. Then the bombshell exposé on 15 March 2023, which apparently confirmed the suspicion Bester had escaped. It sounded far-fetched, but GroundUp’s March 2023 story was evidently supported by documents that had been in the state’s possession for almost a year.

Read: Government knew Thabo Bester had escaped, but did nothing

Then came the follow-up stories. Pictures of Bester, taken in public; stories about a scam business run from inside a maximum-security prison, and information about public businesses run from a rented mansion in Hyde Park. It kept getting more bizarre. And still the state was nowhere.

Evidence of serious crimes

A few facts are indisputable: On Tuesday 3 May 2022 the South African Police Service (SAPS) was called to a scene at Mangaung Correctional Centre (MCC) where a body was found burnt in a cell – a suspected suicide. The body was taken to the state mortuary where on the morning of 4 May 2022 state pathologist Dr Jacobus Fouche performed the autopsy and concluded the deceased died from blunt force trauma and that the body was burnt post-mortem. Someone was murdered and then burnt. Accordingly, as early as 4 May 2022, SAPS knew a murder had occurred in the prison. A murder docket was opened. What happened, or did not happen, next is worth analysing.

An investigating officer of even average ability would have known from the autopsy report that the post-mortem burning of the body implicated either another prisoner, or a prison official as perpetrator. The report measured the victim at 145cm tall and weighing 50.2kg. Compared to Thabo Bester’s approximate 175cm height, this was a small victim.

By 4 May 2022 the state had sufficient information, at the very least, to suspect that the victim was not Bester, and that he was missing. This was enough to surmise that several serious crimes had been committed.

And then? Nothing

Where were the authorities from May 2022 to March 2023? This matter deserved immediate investigation and immediate action. There are two state departments directly implicated: the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) – with a budget of R25.5 billion and the SAPS – with a budget of R100.5 billion.

For ten months the state seemingly sat on the facts, not using their enormous collective might and resources, until a small, non-profit company published the embarrassing truth. During this time Bester was hiding in plain sight, committing further crimes. Do not romanticise Bester and his wife (or girlfriend) as a Clyde and Bonnie, or their conduct as an escape from Alcatraz. They are low-life dangerous criminals, who openly played the fool with the authorities. It should never have been allowed.

The Bester saga exposes two state failures. The first is the fact he was allowed to escape. Yes, escapes happen, and yes they happen with inside assistance. But allowing Bester to conduct online scams from prison and likely smuggle a body into prison to escape is inexcusable.

There was clearly no control at the prison – G4S and DCS must answer. Neither can escape culpability.

Secondly there is the SAPS. We expect our police force to act when dangerous prisoners escape. We expect them to warn the public that a convicted serial rapist and murderer is on the loose. We expect police to be able to promptly solve the murder of a person whose body was burnt in a closed prison environment where everyone is supposed to be accounted for. These are just the basics we expect. We do not expect Tommy Lee Jones and a team of US Marshals to ride into town to catch a fugitive. We just expect some action.

GroundUp is a small, community focused publication. It is a non-profit organisation that relies on donations to produce and publish news reports and opinions. Its annual budget is about 0.007% of the SAPS budget. GroundUp does not have a large investigative division, but it relies on good sources and good journalism to research articles. Why did the state require this small member of the fourth estate to publish the story, before it swung into action?

At best for SAPS and DCS, there has been extreme incompetence and dereliction of duty.

It is an embarrassment not cured by the actions and achievements since March 2023. A deliberate cover-up would bizarrely be almost be a relief.

The author is an attorney who specialises in media law. He is also GroundUp’s lawyer.

Views expressed are not necessarily GroundUp’s.

© 2023 GroundUp. This article was first published here.

Read: Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magudumana back in South Africa – and behind bars