(Officer #1) go to the
Cell. Go to the cell.
(Officer #2) going
Towards cell 35.
(Anchor) convicted m*rder*r and
A so-called facebook r*pist
(Francis) thabo bester had been found
Burnt to death in his prison cell.
(Bongani) it's a story that's
Made headlines here and abroad.
(Bongani) it starts off slowly.
You kind of see, you know,
The corner of your eye,
And then it really just gathers
Pace as more drama began to emerge.
- (Clement) "tom".
- (Anchor #1) tom motsepe.
- (Nathi) tk nkwana.
- (Chriselda) whatever his name is.
(Woman) tom bester.
(Man) who is this thabo bester?
(Nathi) and I said, "I've go
You. I know what scum you are."
(Guests) happy birthday ♪
Dear thabo ♪
(Zethu) what the f*ck was that?
(Glenda) he was presumably dead.
(Man) it's just unbelievable.
(Marecia) one remaining question
Was, "whose body was it?"
I don't know what to
Say, to be honest.
- (Woman #1) eish. I don't know.
- (Woman #2) this is so crazy.
(Chriselda) it, without a doubt,
Became one of the biggest stories
That we've covered as
The south african press.
(Chriselda) mr bester, do you have
Anything to say?! I see you there!
(Jessica) groundup are the
Ones who broke the story.
(Dj) it was groundup who
Told us, not the government.
- Nandipha magudumana
- Is a celebrity doctor.
(Man) the things that she chooses to
Do for this guy will leave you going,
Smuggling a body!
Is this actually for real?
(Laughing)
(Anchor) magudumana believed to
Be on the run with thabo bester.
(Man) where's he now?
(Bheki) we found bester.
(Woman) oh ha, ha!
(William) it sounds
Like "bonnie and clyde".
(Daniel) you know, a lot of people
Said, oh this is like a movie.
A bad american movie, ja.
(Dramatic music)
(Marecia) I think I'll just star
With how the day actually went.
It was a tuesday morning
And I drove in to work.
I got to the office and I
Started like any regular day.
My name is marecia damons and I work
As a journalist at groundup news.
Our focus is mainly
Grassroots stories.
So that morning I
Opened my laptop.
I had this big mug of
Green tea next to me.
And my editor, nathan geffen,
Came up to me and said, "close
The door, close the door."
This is a very confidential
Discussion that we
Are about to have.
I have a story for you,
"And it might jus
Be a big one."
Nathan asked me, "do you
Remember the facebook r*pist?"
And I told him tha
I didn't know him.
(Woman #1) it was a big
Story in south africa.
I don't even know
Who he is, child.
(Woman #2) he's also known
As the facebook r*pist.
He would literally lure
Young girls, mostly teens
Using facebook
With opportunities to, like,
Elevate their careers
Promising them modelling and things
Like that, like he's an agent.
And then he would as*ault them.
And r*pe them and
Sometimes m*rder them.
The man got arrested.
(Woman #3) he was sentenced
To 50 years in prison.
His name is thabo bester.
I had absolutely no idea tha
My life was going to change
In the way that it did.
(Dramatic music)
Earlier that year, the departmen
Of correctional services
Issued a statement saying
That a fire had broken ou
In thabo bester's cell.
(Anchor #1)
Correctional services
(Clement) ..announced that the
r*pist and m*rder*r, thabo bester
Had burned to death
- (Anchor #2) ..in his prison cell
- (Anchor #3) ..at the
(Anchor #4) ..mangaung
Correctional facility
(Anchor #3) ..which is
Privately owned by g4s.
(Man) these prisons
Are managed by g4s
(Marecia) I asked nathan,
"Well okay, where's the story?"
And he told me that he
Had received a tip-off
That there are rumours thabo
Bester actually didn't die,
But that he escaped
And that he was helped by a prison
Official who is nicknamed snowy.
(Dramatic music)
(Glenda) a tip-off is when
Somebody gives you information
And somebody could give
You anonymous information,
Somebody could give
You false information.
So when you get a tip-off,
You've got to see,
"Mm, where is this coming from?
Why does this person wan
Me to know this information?
Does he or she have an
Agenda, and what is it?"
So you have to be
Super suspicious.
(Marecia) nathan told me
That he received that tip-off
From a very reliable source,
And we needed to protec
The identity of that source.
(Glenda) whistleblowers are
Really heroes in this country,
As far as I'm concerned.
They're super big heroes,
Because they know what the
Implications are going to be.
They're the brave ones.
They are people who are
Getting k*lled as well.
You know, we mustn't think
We're not a mafia state.
(Marecia) when I first heard the
Details surrounding this story,
I thought, "this is impossible."
Mangaung is a privately-run prison.
It is a maximum security prison.
It's people involved in gangs,
People who have m*rder*d individuals.
And given the extent of
Security at the prison,
It's not easy to get in.
Your car gets inspected from top
To bottom, from the inside out.
There's cctv monitors
Throughout the prison.
So we do know that I
Is a very secure prison.
At the time, the department of
Correctional services had confirmed
That the body found in the cell
Was in fact that of thabo bester's.
I thought that it was quite strange
That they could so confidently say
That it was thabo bester, given tha
The south african police services
Told me the dna testing
Was still not completed.
And just because of that,
I thought to myself,
There's this real possibility tha
He might have actually escaped.
The article was no
That widely read.
The public normally responds with
Apathy towards prisoners' stories.
The moment it says
"Prisoner" or "inmate",
The general response
Is a lack of sympathy.
But despite that, we needed to
Continue looking into the story.
(Mysterious music)
(Marecia) so in january, when
We were back in the office,
We received more
Information from our source,
And this time it was a
Report from two judges
Who had visited the
Mangaung private prison.
What featured were some
Findings of the post-mortem
That was done on the
Body found in the prison,
And that the cause of death was
A blunt-force injury to the head,
And the person was burn
Beyond recognition.
So we knew that this was no
A natural death or a suicide.
And what we also saw
Was a death certificate,
And at the section where an id
Number was supposed to be written,
It was left blank.
It's just one of those things abou
Being an investigative journalist.
You try to find all
The possible clues
That might paint a bigger picture
Of what might really be going on.
So I put myself in the
Prison and I thought,
"Okay, if a fire had broken out,
How was it possible that nobody
Saw anything or smel
Anything for long enough,
To the point where the body could
Be burnt beyond recognition?"
It also started
Becoming more eviden
That there was failure
On the state's side,
And there was a lot more digging tha
Needed to be done into the story.
(Daniel) so I think marecia's much
More conspiratorial than I am.
I'm more sceptical about stuff.
So I believe the more rational
And reasonable explanation first,
Whereas marecia wants to
Believe the more crazy theory.
Which I think made
A good balance,
Because many of the aspects
Of the story I would've said,
"Oh no man. That's jus
Absolute nonsense."
Whereas then marecia would say,
"Wait a minute, this
Might actually be true."
(Marecia) I was leaning
Towards the possibility
That thabo bester had escaped,
Even though there was no factual
Evidence to back that up.
Whereas daniel fel
That he did actually die
And that this escaped theory is
Nothing more than just a theory.
(Daniel) in the judges' repor
It also quoted an affidavi
That said that the body tha
Was found in bester's cell
Was claimed by someone a few days
Later called dr nandipha magudumana.
When we saw nandipha's name mentioned
For the first time, we googled her.
(Upbeat hip-hop music)
Her possible involvemen
Just seemed so weird.
(Nandipha) I was six years old
When I told my father that
I want to be a doctor.
I gathered that she was
This celebrity doctor
Who moved mainly in the
Skin aesthetic space.
It is focused on dermatology
As well as surgical procedures.
(Mysterious music)
(Chriselda) we knew
Her on instagram.
I think everybody
Followed her on instagram.
She's very flamboyant.
You know, the typical facade on
Instagram of, "I have a good life."
(Marecia) and I saw
That she was featured
In the "mail & guardian's"
Top 200 south africans.
And we thought, "no,
There's no chance
That this person was
Involved with this."
(Chriselda) we're
Talking about someone
Who is serving life in prison,
And you're talking about a
Woman whom, on instagram,
Seemingly looks
Incredibly successful.
How do you match the two?
(Marecia) it definitely fel
Like the script of a book
Where somebody got tired of
Only writing about bester,
And then decided to throw
In a celebrity doctor
Just to change the
Direction of the story.
My name is nkosinathi sekeleni,
I'm nandipha's older brother.
I was really taken
Aback by nandipha alone,
Like, "how could you ge
Involved with such rubbish?"
And it won't end well."
That's what went in my head.
It won't end well.
Then I wrote an
Email to groundup.
(Marecia) when he told me that it was
His sister, I was quite surprised.
It was interesting that he was
Willing to share this information.
(Interviewer) and so
When you were growing up,
- Were you and nandipha close?
- I would say we were quite very close
Because we used to do the
Same extramural activities.
For instance, gymnastics,
Which was after school,
And we would have to walk home
Together after dark, after sunset.
And I remember holding her hand
During the dark, and while we walk.
So she was someone who was
Always around me and, ja
Nandipha notified us as a
Family that she's got a mentor,
A mentor that lives in new york
City, by the name of tk nkwana,
Which was supposedly a
Property and media mogul.
(Sirens wailing in distance)
(Nathi) nandipha
Was doing very well.
She was at the peak
Of her success.
(Woman) in 2020, bought a porsche,
A ferrari, a range rover
(Nathi) she was buying german
Cars, sports cars, fancy cars
(Woman) opened three
Businesses, beautiful woman.
(Marecia) in hyde park
There was a mansion,
And on the neighbouring
Plot there was a building
Which was supposed to be nandipha's
Practice, optimum medical aesthetics.
(Nandipha) guys, when
You're gonna wear makeup,
You need to have a strong base.
(Upbeat music)
(Nathi) I mean, I went there myself
For a facial when she invited me.
Her business was
Doing very well. Ja.
(Interviewer) and so how
Did she make millions?
Because not all doctors
Are multi-millionaires.
Well from my knowledge,
She made millions by
Investing in property.
And that's where tk nkwana
And arum holdings comes in.
(Marecia) arum holdings was a company
Registered to nandipha magudumana.
They would offer
Property developmen
At a much cheaper price
As their other competitors
And the potential clients
Were attracted to that.
But what ended up happening is
That the goods were never developed
And people had paid deposits,
But didn't see the frui
Of their investments.
It appeared that tk nkwana
Was the main person doing the
Day-to-day runnings of that company.
(William) there are
So many industries
Where a lot of black south
Africans feel excluded from.
I think real estate
Is one obvious one,
Just because it's an industry tha
Is premised on generational wealth,
And generational
Asset ownership,
And black south africans were
Completely excluded from tha
Since the passage of
The native land act.
(Host) the native land
Act of 1913 was saying,
"Black people cannot own
Land, cannot rent land,
Cannot purchase land
In south africa."
So I think by doing that,
It was an instantaneous way
To make a lot of people automatically
Respect their so-called "hustle",
Because here are these
Two black individuals
That are making
It in an industry
Where success for black individuals
Is typically unheard of.
(Daniel) we received
A tip-off from someone
Who said that they
Have been scammed.
They had gone to a
Women in property brunch
At this mansion tha
Nandipha had rented.
The person mentioned that she
Was interested in buying a house.
They gave her a quote tha
Was about r3 million below
What other people were quoting.
So she was like, "oh wow, this
Is amazing. R3 million saved."
And I mean, nandipha
Magudumana is amazing.
And she signed up and she paid
A million rand in deposits.
But after a while working
With arum properties and tk,
It just became a
Complete nightmare.
Tk was short-tempered.
It appeared that he didn't really
Know what he was talking abou
In terms of properties
And construction.
Whenever he was
Challenged by anything,
He would throw a tantrum,
And get emotional,
And say that he doesn'
Wanna be micromanaged.
And then she decided to
Confront magudumana about this,
Because she'd had I
With tk and asked,
"Have you even ever
Built any houses?"
And magudumana said, "yes, of
Course, we've built houses."
(Ominous music)
(Nathi) it's beautiful.
The president doesn't
Live far from here.
(Man) this house is beautiful.
(Nathi) me and my wife
And my two-year-old kid
Had been living in
The hyde park mansion
For about two-and-a-half months.
(Nathi) you know,
This house is huge.
Tennis court this is actually
Where I am gonna smoke my weed,
By the tennis court.
(Nathi) as we got more exposure
To the guy via whatsapp
Calls and video calls,
And then it started
Getting weird.
That even when she's sleeping,
He'd insist that she puts
The phone by her bedside,
And he'd watch her sleep.
So that's when I saw
That this is a nutcase.
And when she'd be on a
Phone call with tk nkwana,
You'd hear her say, "babe", or
Something like that, you know.
Then you're sort of
Like, "you're married.
"Why would you call your business
Mentor baby or babe?" You know.
As well what raised flags is
This guy that's in new york,
He's always like agains
The wall or lying on a bed.
And I mean, new york
City's a loud city.
You would hear a yellow
Cab hooting here and there,
But it's always, like, silent.
Or sometimes there's always
Someone shouting in the background
In our local vernac..
(Laughing) so
(Nathi) tk nkwana approached
Me, asking if I'd be interested
In pursuing a career in a
Popular streaming platform,
And that I'm gonna be
Head of african content.
And so I started interacting on a
Near-daily basis with tk nkwana.
I started getting inquisitive
When he would write me stuff.
His style of writing,
The grammar, totally off.
And for a media educated person,
You know, you'd expec
Them to write properly.
Alright, then.
(Nathi) when I started
Calling about the post,
I became like a sor
Of irritating person
To both nandipha and tk nkwana.
And they would avoid my calls.
And I'm making it out myself
That there's not a lo
Of truth here, you know?
Thinking it's genuine and something
Will come out of it, you know?
But nothing ever came out.
We just became suspicious.
Well I became suspicious.
Then I made it my goal to
Find out who tk nkwana is.
(Ominous music)
(Nathi) so my aunt, who
Was an employee at optimum,
Got fired by tk nkwana.
I think for reasons of
Being too inquisitive.
And since tk nkwana was running the
Show at optimum medical solutions,
He fired her on the spot and
It upset a cousin of mine.
She told me who
I'm dealing with.
So as soon as I
Heard, I went online,
Googled the facebook r*pist, comes
Up first thing thabo bester.
And then immediately, when I
Saw the face, of thabo bester,
I said, "damn! This is the
Guy I've been dealing with.
It's not tk nkwana, he
Doesn't live in new york.
This guy is doing a life
Sentence in bloemfontein."
I called the so-called tk.
I remember exactly. I said,
"Hello, thabo bester."
And he said, "hello, nathi."
And I said, "I've got you.
I know who you are. I
Know what scum you are."
And he said, "well, nathi",
In an arrogant manner,
"You can go to any publication
And no one will believe you.
I have got my tracks covered."
So I think I started
Being a problem.
And thabo bester ordered
Me to vacate the mansion
In the middle of the night.
Nandipha had go
My dad on her side.
(Tense music)
(Nathi) they brought a
Locksmith and while we were out,
Started locking the place, and
Throwing our furniture out,
And thabo bester had a
Conversation with me saying that,
"Nathi, if you don't leave I'm
Gonna sh**t you in the head."
(Tense music)
(Nathi) after we got kicked out,
That's when I wrote
The facebook post.
And I said, "nandipha, I
Know your dirty laundry.
And if I speak, you'll never
Practice medicine again."
And she was very upse
About it, and she sued me.
So it dragged on for a whole year.
I was going in and out of court.
The relationship after that between
Nandipha and I was never the same.
(Marecia) we decided
To consolidate
All of the tip-offs
That we had received.
And we went through
The groundup emails,
And we actually stumbled across
An email from february, 2020
And it was indicating
That bester
Was running a scam company
Called 21st century media.
When I reached out to the
Woman who sent us the tip-off,
She just wanted this
Man to be exposed.
Thabo bester posed as the
Chairman of 21st century media,
And he went by tom motsepe,
Claiming to be related to
The south african billionaire
And business mogul,
Patrice motsepe.
(Daniel) it seems that bester
Himself wasn't charge of recruitment,
So he used his tom motsepe
Profile on linkedin
To approach people working in
Media, got them to quit their jobs.
(Marecia) tom motsepe apparently
Had shares in viacom, in skyfox.
He also claimed to have an investmen
Degree from harvard university.
(Daniel) there are
Photos of his face
Photoshopped onto the
Bodies of celebrities
Like michael "b"
Jordan and others.
(Woman) thabo bester or tom
Motsepe, whatever his name is,
Because he's used
A lot of aliases.
Many of his scams was
To create aliases.
And I think there's an
Element of him, a part of him,
That really wanted
To be those people,
And that he really wanted
To embody those characters.
The boldness to do that stems from a
Belief that he has nothing to lose.
And I think where that probably
Comes from is from where he started,
Which was in a situation
Of a lot of loss.
And so there's probably a part of
Him that in the process thinks,
"Well I'm here, I might as
Well swing as hard as I can,
Try as hard as I can. And
If I succeed, I succeed.
If I don't, I don't."
This man was running a
Multimillion rand scam business
While serving a life
Sentence for r*pe and m*rder.
The twists and turns of
This story don't end.
(Daniel) so the former employee sen
Us a video of the company conference.
(Marecia) some well-known
Names in the media industry
Attended this event.
(Daniel) you've go
Yvonne chaka chaka
And amanda du-pont there,
You've got politicians.
(Marecia) in the middle of it,
They were told that they would
Receive a keynote address
From the chairman of
21St century media
And that he would be
Calling in from new york.
(Daniel) the highligh
Of the highlights video
Is the crowd singing
Happy birthday to this "tom"
(Daniel) to a
m*rder*r and r*pist
(Clement) ..speaking
From prison!
(Guests) happy
Birthday, dear tom ♪
Happy birthday to you ♪
(Nandipha) we hope
You're not crying.
(Nathi) when I saw tha
And saw the people singing
"Happy birthday" to him,
And him having that smile,
And, like, deceiving people,
I just broke out in a laugh and said,
"That's him. That's his tactics."
(Man) running a
Business from prison?
That's his tactics, having people
Sing "happy birthday" to you
While you are in prison
Pretending to be in new york city.
(Marecia) he was
Also involved in
An event called the
Women in media event.
(Daniel) they were told tha
Halle berry and taraji p. Henson
Would be at the event.
But then halle berry
And taraji p. Henson
Both tweeted saying,
"Wait a minute,
We have nothing to
Do with this event.
Like, what is this?
This is fake news."
That's also a pattern that we
See throughout bester's scams
Is this obsession with women and
Using the theme of women empowermen
To then do exactly the
Opposite of women empowerment.
(Tense music)
(William) thabo bester's
Grift, or swindle, or hustle,
Bester took the grif
And transformed I
Into a lifestyle,
Into an occupation,
Into his main mode of being
And interacting with the world,
Because he was able
To fool so many people
Into believing that he was
This top business executive,
This seemingly reliable
And trustworthy person.
And why so many people were
Beguiled by him in the first place,
Is because they looked
At bester and thought,
"Hey, he's onto something.
He's personifying the hustle.
I wanna hustle like him."
(William) all you need to do is
Deceive people for long enough,
Conduct your swindle,
And then disappear.
You've gotta be a risk-taker.
You've gotta be prepared
To put your name out there.
And if you pu
Your name out there
For something that could
Reward you down the line,
And thabo bester
Came upon many people
Who were prepared
To take that risk.
(Daniel) this whole saga
With 21st century media
Is such a good demonstration
Of how thabo's pathology
Intersects with south
Africa's pathology in a way.
(Dramatic music)
(William) south africa, in
Particular, is a society
That operates very intensely
On cultural capital
And how you presen
Yourself on social media.
How you present yourself in the
Circles that you operate within,
Ends up becoming the thing tha
People put a greater purchase on
Than actually how
And who you are.
How and who you are
Is besides the point.
(Dramatic music)
(Chriselda) as the
Story unfolded,
I conducted an exclusive
Interview with dr pashy,
Who was one of the close friends
Of dr nandipha magudumana.
(Pashy) she told me that
She owns this media company,
And then it's got the
International leg as well,
Where the chairperson
Is tk nkwana.
(Chriselda) she basically told me
That she'd been swindled of millions.
That dr nandipha
Magudumana, she says,
Had lured her, wanting
To be friends with her.
They shared similar ideals.
They would pray together,
That's what she told me.
Promises of helping her h*s
A high-profile women's empowermen
Programme in the united states.
(Pashy) they then promised that they
Can bring the likes of oprah winfrey.
(Chriselda) there were times
When he video-called you.
- Where was he?
- He would be in various locations,
Sometimes in an office, sometimes on
A yacht in the middle of the ocean.
Sometimes just in the
Streets, just walking around.
So he would video call from,
Like, different locations.
(Daniel) our source decided
To make one big disclosure,
Which was that there were spli
Seconds of video footage
From the night of thabo bester's
Cell going under fire
Where we could clearly see
The two people hastily exiting
The prison at about 02:59.
(Daniel) there you go. Obviously,
That's suspicious. (Chuckling)
So we added that to our article.
(Anchor) is thabo bester dead?
Something is not right.
Questions over whether the convicted
Facebook r*pist, thabo bester,
Is alive or not,
Are intensifying.
I'm totally floored by
The thabo bester story.
It's some excellent journalism,
By the way. Shout out to groundup.
So we have engaged with all
The relevant authorities
With every report that
We have published.
And up until now,
Many of them have remained rather mum
On the status of the investigation.
(Gareth) so where are we?
Who was in the cell and what's
Next in this investigation?
So investigative journalism
Is really about in-depth,
Deep journalism,
Slow journalism.
It's about things that don't match up
And then you follow through on them.
Often times it can be years
To actually get to the
Bottom of something.
You know, your nose tells you
Something's fishy here, it stinks.
There was definitely this urge
To keep at the front of this
Story for as long as possible,
Meaning there were countless
Hours of investigations,
Of phoning people, of
Waiting for responses.
(Glenda) people work under a lot of
Pressure and with a lot of anxiety
When they're doing this because
You can't, you know, let on,
Other people can't find
Out what you're doing.
But it's so super
Important, I can't tell you.
(Daniel) marecia suggested tha
We just go through all our emails
And kind of consolidate all
The tip-offs we've received.
We were contacted by a prisoner who
Was at mangaung correctional centre,
Saying that he had
Information about a cover-up
Of someone dying in the prison.
And that was important for us,
Because this corner cell is
Slightly obscured from cameras.
(Marecia) this inmate also said
That thabo bester was
Uncharacteristically happy.
He was rather jovial and
This inmate was obviously
Questioning tha
Because bester was
Serving a life sentence.
So "what do you mean
You're going away soon?"
In the post-mortem
Report that we received,
The pathologist noted a
Strong smell of paraffin
Coming from the trachea and
The bronchi of the body.
(Chikwava) if you are telling me
That somebody was in a confined space
That is monitored
24/7, As in custody,
Then I would be alarmed as to
Why are we smelling paraffin,
And what does it mean?
In this instance, we are looking
More at was the person alive
Before the fire or was this person
Dead by the time the fire started?
And then it is written on the
Summary of the autopsy repor
That I looked at, that the general
Condition of the internal organs
Were decomposed or at leas
Suggestive that the body
Had been in the process of
Decomposing for a while.
(Marecia) it helped
Paint this picture
That the person found in the cell
Didn't die by smoke inhalation.
(Chikwava) if there's combustion
Of material that is around,
One is bound to
Inhale it. Right?
Showing that there was
Physiological activity going on,
Which is breathing, pointing
At the fact that one was alive
During the time that the fire started
Or was put in there during the fire.
Commenting on what was pu
Forward is the autopsy report.
I didn't see any sign that could
Have indicated this person was alive
During the time tha
The fire was occurring.
(Marecia) what tha
Report also showed
Was that the body was 1.45m tall.
That's a remarkably short man.
And that's when we looked up possible
Images indicating his height.
And we found this mugshot showing
That he was well over 1.7m tall.
The height difference
Was definitely an "uh-huh"
Moment for this investigation,
Because not only did it show
To us who were working on it,
But also the public that there's
This very real possibility
That the body found in the cell
Was not that of thabo bester's.
(Mdluli) groundup
Says there's evidence
That counters the state's claim
That thabo bester died in a fire.
So questions still remain
As to who that person is.
I'm sorry that I'm laughing, it's
Just this story's ridiculous.
(Dramatic music)
(Chikwava) in most instances we
Are supposed to go to the prison
Whilst the body is still untouched
And start examining it from there.
I'm not sure wha
Happened in this case.
It's highly recommended that a
Doctor should have been at the scene.
(Marecia) this inmate also alleged
That after the fire had broken out,
And it had then been extinguished,
The place was cleaned.
(Daniel) throughou
Investigating this,
Many prisoners have contacted
Us with information.
But some aspects of the story
Might have been embellishments
That were fabricated
By the rumour mill,
And it's so difficult to verify
Any of those without cctv footage
Or documentary evidence,
And, because of the state of
Our prisons, that doesn't exist.
(Marecia) if we were wrong
About thabo bester escaping,
That mistake could be, basically,
The detriment of groundup.
We received a phone number for
Thabo bester's mom, meisie mabaso,
And she told us that she
Had heard on the radio
(Bongani over
Radio) thabo bester,
Also known as the
Infamous facebook r*pist,
Had set himself alight
In his cell and died.
And she made her
Way to the prison
To find out where the body
Was, to try and reclaim it.
So they did dna tests and saw tha
There was no relation between her
And the body found in the cell.
Meaning that that body
Was not the biological
Child of meisie mabaso.
Around the 7th of april,
An unidentified body
Was taken from the free
State morgue in bloemfontein.
Police believe tha
Nandipha magudumana
Claimed that body
As her father
And the body was dumped in
A river in bloemfontein,
Where it was later
Found by police,
Still with its
Identification tag attached.
(Anchor) it's in this dam
That one of the bodies
Allegedly stolen by
Dr nandipha magudumana
Was found floating
After she allegedly claimed it
At the mortuary as her father.
(Interviewer) is that a good or a
Bad way of getting rid of a body?
I mean, would the body float?
(Chuckling) I'm not really an exper
On getting rid of bodies, but ja.
To me it would seem as
If it was a hurried way
Of getting rid of the body because
In a river it will be found.
It's actually ill*gal
And it's an offence tha
One can be prosecuted for.
(Anchor) leaving a
Whole community shocked
That that body is
Possibly linked
To the infamous case
Of thabo bester.
(Daniel) it has been reported
That nandipha claimed three differen
Bodies from morgues in bloemfontein,
When, in fact, she claimed
Two different bodies,
But she claimed
The one body twice.
She claimed the first body
Which ended up in the
River in bloemfontein.
Then the second body was the
One that was used in the fire.
She claimed that second
Body again from the morgue.
A few days after the fire, magudumana
And her father, zolile sekeleni,
Went to the free state morgue,
Claimed the burnt body,
And took it to soweto.
The bodies were obtained by
Magudumana over a few weeks.
What the f*ck?!
(Daniel) the police had by tha
Point received the autopsy results,
Which showed that the body was
Dead before the fire broke out.
The police then started
Investigating a m*rder case
And did some quick
Investigative work
To trace the body back to soweto
And confiscated it from magudumana.
And that is when nandipha wen
To the pretoria high court.
And in her affidavit,
She said that,
"On the 3rd of may,
2022, While at work,
I received a phone call from
Mangaung correctional centre.
The individual delivered to me sad
News that my husband had passed away,
And that he burned to
Death in his single cell,
And that I must come
And collect his body
As I was the only one
Who was registered
"As a family member
Of the deceased."
So she said that she was thabo
Bester's customary law wife
And that she had burial
Rights for this body.
(Daniel) and she said stuff like, I
Pains her to see her husband's body
Passed around like a pauper, claiming
That the principles of ubuntu
Have been violated by the police
In taking the body away from her.
But what was not mentioned
In that affidavit,
Is that nandipha was actually already
Married to dr mkhuseli magudumana,
And you can't get married
Under customary law
If you are already
Married under civil law.
(Aaron) is thabo customarily
Married? We don't know.
We have got no evidence of that, that
She married customarily to anybody.
(Nathi) in my culture
There's lobola negotiations
And the last lobola we had at home
Was nandipha's husband, the doctor
Paying lobola for nandipha.
(Woman #1) in south africa, we
Have a very special kind of law,
Where the law recognises all
Different kinds of marriages.
And one of them is
Customary marriages.
(Woman #2) these are the requirements
Of a valid customary marriage.
- Must be over the age of 18. Tick.
- (Interviewer) okay.
- Must consent to the marriage. Tick.
- (Interviewer) tick.
Must pay a monetary value. Tick.
(Woman #3) "neither
Of the parties
Shall already be in
A civil marriage."
You need to show that there
Was some form of celebration,
Whether you slaughtered a
Goat, maybe even a chicken.
If you can give that proof, you
Take it and run to home affairs.
Then they register
That marriage.
(Nathi) so nandipha's
Husband is a paediatrician,
And he comes from the same area
That we come from originally
In the old transkei.
And quite a very jolly, fun guy who
Takes his profession very serious,
But who also enjoys the
Nightlife of johannesburg.
I would say I started being a
Bit inquisitive, I would say,
About her relationship
With her husband that,
"How can a married couple sort of
Live separately?" It doesn't add up.
(Marecia) daniel showed up
At the office quite early,
And he was a bit of a nerd for
Showing up at that time. (Laughing)
Ooh I don't know how he's gonna
Feel about that. Shame, man.
(Daniel) when I got to the
Office early that morning
(Marecia) the office phone rang and
Somebody wanted to speak to him.
(Daniel) and it was someone who
Said that they have got pictures of
Thabo bester and
Nandipha magudumana
Shopping in woolworths
In sandton city.
(Daniel) and I saw the
Pictures and I was like
Ja, I just kind of stood back and
Said, "thabo bester is alive."
(Marecia) in the photo we see
Nandipha, and her hair was braided,
It was tied up in a bun,
And there he was in shades.
(Daniel) so first we looked
Into the metadata of the images,
And by doing that we could see
That the images were taken
On the 30th of june, 2022,
And the gps location showed tha
It was taken in sandton city
Almost a year ago. So
The photos were real.
(Marecia) that moment for me was
The final nail in the coffin,
And I immediately just knew tha
This man definitely escaped.
This is all the
Evidence that we need,
Proving that he's
Alive and well.
(Automated message) nex
Customer, please. Teller four.
Please have your woolworths
And myschool cards ready.
This story is f*cking
Crazy, so let me paint this.
Photographs of a man resembling
Bester shopping in johannesburg
Are now circulating
On social media.
(Dj) thabo bester,
This guy is not dead!
This guy escaped!
The facebook r*pist is alive,
And possibly well,
And possibly living large.
(Zethu) and now to learn
That this m*therf*cker's been out
There on the loose this whole time
(Anchor) bester was apparently
Spotted in sandton
With dr nandipha at a woolies
Doing grocery shopping.
Months after his alleged death.
In june, 2022. Guys, this
Is from last year already.
So why is this photo
Only circulating now?
This is embarrassing,
The fact that they were not aware
That he had escaped for so long?
South africa is a movie. This
Story is just so bizarre.
I don't know. I ain't
Got answers for you.
This is the person who
Was supposed to have died.
And, actually, here he is in
Woolworths with his lover.
(Anchor) dr nandipha
Magudumana made headlines
Due to her alleged relationship
With fugitive, thabo bester,
Also known as the
Facebook r*pist.
They were shopping!
They were shopping in sandton.
And for those who don't know,
That's a very affluent suburb.
And I thought, "wow, wha
A story! Is this for real?"
I don't think it's every
Day that south african media
Get to cover something
So spectacular, if I can.
(Marecia) the public were on our
Side, also wanting to find out,
"How is it possible tha
Thabo bester had escaped?"
Everywhere on youtube it's,
Bester this, nandipha this.
Bester this, nandipha this.
The thabo bester story
See how charming is this guy.
He is the most scandalous man
To ever walk earth, for me.
Movie sh*t
(Dramatic music)
(Cellphone ringing)
(Marecia) we received another
Tip-off from a prison warden
Who said that they were working
At the mangaung private prison
And they alleged tha
Snowy was involved
And that his full name was
Senohe "snowy" matsoara.
So now, at this point, we had
A full name and a full surname.
(Daniel) at one stage
A picture circulated
Of senohe matsoara posing with
A brand new volkswagen t-roc,
Which retails for
Upwards of r650,000
And senohe matsoara had a
Salary of r15,000 a month.
(Ex-warden) I saw senohe's car,
It was january or february, 2022.
And we were all praising him,
"Hey man, a nice car", etcetera.
But we are asking ourselves,
"Hey, so expensive car
With that little peanuts
That he was earning at g4s?"
So I think thabo bester managed
To trap officials by saying,
"Hey, man, you've never had tha
Feeling of having a million,
Of being a millionaire.
I'll make you a millionaire.
I'll give you this if you do this."
So some of the employees got trapped.
He's very
Manipulative, that guy.
And who was part of
This elaborate cover-up?
So many people
Clearly are involved,
And do you really
Wanna piss off someone
Who could pull something
Off of that magnitude,
So well-orchestrated?
(Daniel) on friday,
The 29th of april,
Senohe matsoara allegedly
Drove the bakkie,
With the body in, to the prison.
(Ex-warden) the dead
Body stays there
Friday, saturday,
Sunday, and monday.
Then thabo bester escaped in
The early hours of tuesday.
02:59 On the clock. It was 02:59
(Interviewer) do you know
Where he stored the body?
(Ex-warden) the workshops where the
Inmates had been learning skills.
That's where I heard they
Hide that body there,
In something like a tv stand.
(Interviewer) so why do you think
The body wasn't smelling bad?
(Ex-warden) let's assume he was
Using ice maybe on top of that body.
Because that question
I've asked myself, "why?"
You know the smell
Of a dead person?
It's very horrible.
Bester was enrolled in a principles
Of graphic design course.
Prisoners are entitled
To the use of a laptop
If they're enrolled a
A tertiary institution.
But the use of those laptops
Are supposed to be monitored.
(Ex-warden) thabo bester,
He was very smart.
He was having a laptop, a
Cellphone, and nice food
You go there, you
Confiscate this stuff,
Then sometimes you
Are in deep trouble.
So we have to le
Him do these things.
(Ex-warden) the management will
Tell you straight as an officer,
The frontline staff, tha
"The inmates are our clients,
We are getting money
Because of them."
(Marecia) it became
Clear that thabo bester
Must've received some sort of
Help from the staff at the prison.
(Ex-warden) thabo
Bester managed to open
Seven doors to escape.
So the people who were working in
There, they got that instruction.
Open this door, open this,
Open this, open this,
Not knowing this guy's escaping
Because the cameras were not working.
So if your senior tells you to open
The door, what are you gonna do?
You have to comply
And complain later.
Should you say "no",
You're gonna be fired.
You know, I heard thabo bester
Was wearing a g4s
Uniform when he escaped.
I think he was helped to escape.
(Marecia) we turned to the
Department of correctional
Services in our follow-ups,
And we let them know that we were
Aware that someone called "snowy"
Might have assisted
Thabo bester in escaping,
But that was when the departmen
Of correctional services
Started stonewalling us.
(Singabakho) until such time
That the new information,
New evidence or the outcome of the
Investigation is brought to us,
As a department we still
Stand by the statement
That we issued on
The 3rd of may.
We're not only
Working on an expose
That is juicy and that's going to
Capture the attention of the public,
But there is a convicted rapis
And m*rder*r on the loose.
- (Man #1) hey, bro!
- (Man #2) thabo bester!
Alberton hospital.
(Marecia) and police
Were dragging their fee
And not moving with urgency
To try and find thabo bester,
Or to even arrest persons of
Interest like dr nandipha.
(Singabakho) we have
Seen media reports,
But as a department,
There is an investigation
Which is ongoing,
And that has not been finalised.
Let us not be drawn into
All these speculations,
All these reports making rounds.
I mean, we do receive
A lot of information
And we obviously vet it thoroughly,
But it is somewhat concerning.
I believe that
After nearly a year,
There still hasn't been any new
Developments in this matter.
(Ronald) however,
What we can assure
The public on, is
That we are aware
Of the urgency of the matter.
Because if indeed
Such a thing happened,
It undermines the authority
Of the state.
(Glenda) presiden
Cyril ramaphosa
Didn't give a press conference on
The issue of the thabo bester escape,
And it's a pattern
In his presidency.
Huge things happen and you'd
Expect a press conference.
"Dear south africa,
This has happened
And this is what we are
Going to investigate,
And even an apology
To the nation."
But no, we don't get it,
And it's most unfortunate.
It's actually pathetic.
(Marecia) this happened
On the 3rd of may, 2022,
And when the story had
Started to blow up,
It had been almost a year
Since this fire had broken out.
(Anchor) how long is this
Investigation going to take
For it to be concluded?
The moment the investigating team
Says, "we are done with our work",
"Here's a report," that
Report will then be released.
So you can't give me
Time frames, singabakho?
It is not advisable to say
This particular time frame.
(Marecia) he said tha
They did not have access
To the post-mortem report,
Which was quite difficult for us to
Believe because we had access to it.
I need to understand how
Correctional services
Has waited almost a year
To follow up on its investigation
Of an autopsy report.
I must say that this is not
Something out of the ordinary.
Unfortunately, we do
Wait for quite some time
To get these autopsy reports.
And soon after his interview,
We decided to actually publish
The post-mortem report.
(Tense music)
If we had less robust media we'd
Probably have even more corruption.
But it's also possible that the
Corruption won't go on forever
Because, actually, people
Fear media and they should.
They should fear media
If they're corrupt.
A manhunt is underway for convicted
m*rder*r and a so-called facebook
Facebook r*pist..
And k*ller, thabo bester..
Is on the loose.
(Anchor) there is,
Of course, a manhunt.
Police are now working with
Private security companies
To try and apprehend him.
Nandipha magudumana's father
Confirmed his daughter's in hiding,
Believed to be on the
Run with thabo bester.
On the 21st of march we learned
That nandipha and thabo bester had
Fled and that they were on the run.
(Daniel) by this stage, even though
We didn't know where they'd gone to,
The whole country knew
That bester had escaped.
(Dj) it's not even a movie.
This is like a crime channel scary
Documentary. So be safe out there.
(Dramatic music)
(Marecia) apparently he lef
A r1.5 million watch behind
At the hyde park mansion.
We also heard that nandipha had
Dropped off her kids at school,
But never went to collect them.
And then we heard
That there was a pile of burning
Documents in the backyard.
Nandipha and bester
Were now on the run,
And I was scared that they
May actually get away with it.
(Tense music)
(Woman #1) I think what we're
Forgetting in all of this
Is that he m*rder*d someone.
(Dramatic music)
(Woman #2) he hasn't just taken
Their lives, he's taken their voice.
(Woman #2) because it's all forgotten
He's not an evil criminal anymore.
Now he's just a
Financial wizard.
So yes, I'm angry, I'm bitter,
Because all the things he's
Done have been forgotten.
And I shouldn't call them
Victims. They're survivors.
They're survivors.
(Sombre music)
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01x01 - The Fire in Cell 35
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South African true crime mini television documentary series based on the prison escape of Thabo Bester and his alleged accomplice, Nandipha Magudumana.
South African true crime mini television documentary series based on the prison escape of Thabo Bester and his alleged accomplice, Nandipha Magudumana.