The South African Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights (Sapohr)  has called for Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola and everyone was involved in the escape of convicted Facebook rapist and murderer Thabo Bester to be fired. Thabo Bester, escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Centre, in Bloemfontein in May 2022 after it was believed that he had committed suicide by setting himself alight in his jail cell. The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) said there will be serious consequences for those found to have been involved in his escape. 

ACCOUNTABILITY 

 Sapohr spokesperson Golden  Bhudu said that high-level investigations must be applied to the matter. "That Mangaung Correctional Centre is a private prison. That prison is never overcrowded or under-crowded. So, it is not possible that Thabo Bester could just disappear into thin air. But if they keep on running, the fugitive and the person who is aiding the fugitive are digging their grave deeper." He emphasised that somebody needs to be held accountable for this escape. "Because they are not only complacent, they also could be called accomplices of this horror movie that plays itself up almost a year later if it was not GroundUp who kept their knee on their necks, this matter was going to disappear into thin air." 

SPECIAL TASK TEAM INVESTIGATING 

A special task team of Gauteng and Free State police and crime intelligence has been deployed to investigate Bester's prison escape. National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola said they are also probing who the person found burnt in Bester's cell was. 

 NO COMMON GROUND 

This comes after G4S, the multinational company that runs Mangaung Prison insisted that the man who died at the facility in May last year was Thabo Bester. The Department of Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said they are now engaging with the second leg, in terms of what the contract says when it comes to an escape."The security breaches that we have identified, unfortunately, there is no common ground. We don't seem to find each other with the contractor (G4S) in terms of our findings and their findings," said Nxumalo.