By John Ikani
South Africa’s prison authority is set to sever its ties with G4S, a multinational security company responsible for running Mangaung Prison where a notorious convicted rapist and murderer, Thabo Bester, escaped last year by faking his own death and planting a corpse in his cell.
The escape had been unknown until recently when Bester and his girlfriend were arrested in Tanzania.
Despite admitting to security lapses at the facility, G4S refused to take responsibility for Bester’s escape.
While the firm’s contract was due to expire in 2026, Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola has stated that he is terminating it early on legal advice.
Bester, known as the “Facebook Rapist” for using the social networking site to lure his victims, is now being held in another maximum security prison and will appear in court later this month on new charges related to the escape, including one count of murder.
In 2012, he was convicted of raping and murdering his girlfriend, and a year earlier, of raping and robbing two other women.
