Action Society is urging security firm G4S to repay the government the R1.4 million spent on repatriating Thabo Bester and his accomplice, Nandipha Magudumana, back to the country.
Bester, a convicted murderer, rapist and fraudster had escaped while in G4S’s custody.
Also read: Thabo Bester escape: Ministers and officials scramble to answer MPs’ questions
The pair fled the country when reports suggested that Bester, also known as the Facebook Rapist, did not die in cell 35 of the G4S-operated Mangaung Correctional Facility in May 2022 but had received assistance from Magudumana and others in faking his own death and escaping from prison.
They were recently arrested in Tanzania and transported back to South Africa by a private jet.
According to Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, a delegation was dispatched to Tanzania to retrieve Bester and his accomplice, Dr Nandipha Magudumana.
However, commercial airlines declined to carry the pair, forcing the delegation to charter a private flight. He added that the most economical private aircraft available for their trip to Tanzania was priced at over R1 million.
Motsoaledi confirmed that his department paid the mentioned amount during a briefing to the National Assembly Committee on Home Affairs regarding all matters related to Bester’s escape and re-arrest.
Ian Cameron, director for Community Safety at Action Society, criticised the decision to charge the cost of the private flight to taxpayers, saying the money could have been better spent on other priorities such as clearing the DNA backlog, properly training SAPS members or upgrading courts working with gender-based violence.
Cameron called on the ministers responsible for police and justice, Bheki Cele and Ronald Lamola, as well as President Ramaphosa, to personally cover the cost of the operation.
‘In fact, all the ministers involved, specifically Bheki Cele for Police and Ronald Lamola for Justice, and President Ramaphosa should shake their own pockets to pay for the whole bumbled exercise, ‘ Cameron said.
Also read:
MPs grill G4S and correctional centre as Thabo Bester saga continues
Picture: illustrated by Lisa Nelson