As the Thabo Bester saga continues, more damning revelations about the convicted rapist and murderer are coming out. His primary school teacher, who spoke to ZiMoja on condition of anonymity, says Bester started his crime spree  when he was young and she knew this day would come

 
CROOKING PEOPLE AT A TENDER AGE 

His teacher at Laerskool Danie Theron in Kibler Park in Johannesburg told ZiMoja that Bester was already ahead of his peers in primary school. The teacher says while other kids were learning how to read and write, Bester was extorting money from people around him. "He was living with his grandmother at the time and they were poor. He used that to manipulate people. He conned a lot of people asking for money for either books, school case or bus fares,' said the teacher. The teacher added that people always bought his poverty sob story and started donating towards his daily needs.

USING HIS BACKGROUND TO HIS ADVANTAGE

"People used to buy him books, pay his bus fare and some would even pay for his school fees. That is how lucky he was, but he soon took advantage of that and mistook their kindness for foolishness,' she adds. According to the teacher, once Bester realised that people are easily manipulated, he pleaded poverty and  conned people outside the school premises. The teacher says he would skip class or bunk school to go hustle outside. "He used to go to Eastgate and ask people to sponsor him for a Rugby Tour.' According to the teacher he would often target elderly, mothers who would be walking with their kids or stay-at-home moms who were sympathetic towards him. 

HIS BIG BREAK WAS AN OLD WHITE MAN 

The teacher added that there was an old man who opened a bank account and raised funds for Bester. "He conned the old man by taking him for a ride, I remember when the poor old man realised he was played and the money from the bank account withdrawn, he came to the school looking defeated. The school secretary at the time and I had to go and fetch him at Eastgate Mall. There were no signs of being remorseful and I knew then that one day, he was going to do something major that would land him here,' adds the teacher. Bester and his celebrity doctor girlfriend, Dr Nandipha Magudumana were arrested in Tanzania after fleeing the country when it was discovered that he had escaped from prison last year. Bester will continue to serve his life sentence for rape and murder, but is now facing added charges of fraud, defeating the ends of justice, escaping and violating a body. He will appear before the Bloemfontein Magistrate Court on 16 May 2023.