Convicted killer and rapist Thabo Bester has been moved under tight security to South Africa’s most notorious prison, the eBongweni Super Maximum Correctional Centre in Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal – a facility built to hold the country’s most dangerous and high-risk inmates.
Bester, whose brazen escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in 2022 embarrassed the state and exposed deep failures in the prison system, had been held at the Kgoši Mampuru II C-Max facility in Pretoria. The Department of Correctional Services has now confirmed that he has been transferred to eBongweni, also known simply as Kokstad Super Max.
The department stressed that there was nothing unusual about the move.
“It has to be emphasised that offender transfers are a routine practice, guided by established security risk assessments to ensure the safety, security, and stability of correctional facilities and the broader criminal justice system.
“The offender will continue to receive appropriate care in line with applicable legislative and policy prescripts and will retain full access to legal representation, family communication, and court processes.
“All necessary logistical arrangements remain in place to ensure that court appearances and legal proceedings proceed without disruption,” the Department of Correctional Services said.
The timing of the transfer comes as Bester moves closer to what is expected to be a high-profile trial, scheduled to start in July, related to his escape and alleged wide network of accomplices – including disgraced celebrity doctor Nandipha Magudumana, who was arrested with him in Tanzania.
From “Facebook rapist” to Super Max inmate
Bester, often referred to in the media as the “Facebook rapist”, is serving a life sentence for rape and murder after he lured women through online platforms, attacked them and, in at least one case, killed a victim and set her body alight.
While he was meant to be securely locked away in the Mangaung Correctional Facility, a privately run maximum-security prison in Bloemfontein, the country woke up in 2022 to reports that he had died in a cell fire. It later emerged that the charred body found in his cell was not his, and that Bester had in fact escaped in an elaborate operation that allegedly involved corrupt officials, staged scenes and large sums of money.
The scandal raised serious questions about the outsourcing of prisons to private companies, the integrity of security systems, and the ease with which well-connected inmates could allegedly buy their way out of high-security jails.
In 2023, after months on the run, Bester was re-arrested in Tanzania together with Magudumana. They were intercepted by authorities near the Kenyan border, reportedly on their way further north. The pair were deported back to South Africa under heavy guard and placed in high-security facilities while a new criminal case was opened.
Why Kokstad – and what makes eBongweni different
The move to eBongweni signals that authorities are taking no chances with Bester a second time.
Kokstad Super Max is designed for the highest-risk prisoners in the country – those considered extreme escape risks, gang leaders or individuals involved in violent or organised crime who need to be kept under the strictest control. Inmates are typically held in single cells, under heavy surveillance, with very limited movement and tightly controlled interaction with other prisoners or visitors.
The facility is known for its isolation regime: prisoners often spend around 23 hours a day locked in their cells, with only a brief period allowed for exercise, usually in enclosed yards under close watch. Physical contact with visitors is extremely restricted, and access points are layered with multiple security checks.
By moving Bester there from Kgoši Mampuru’s C-Max section, the Department of Correctional Services is effectively placing him in the most secure environment available in the state system. After the public outrage that followed his escape from Mangaung, it is politically and operationally critical for the state to demonstrate that he will not get another opportunity to slip through the cracks.
The department’s insistence that transfers are “routine practice” and based on security risk assessments is also a way of reinforcing that this is not a special favour or punishment, but a security decision – though in reality it is unmistakably a response to the lessons learnt from Bester’s earlier escape.
Access to lawyers, family and the courts under scrutiny
One of the main criticisms often levelled at Super Max conditions is that they can make it more difficult for inmates to prepare their legal defences or maintain regular contact with family. Long travel distances, strict visiting windows and non-contact visits behind glass are frequently raised by defence lawyers in high-profile cases.
Anticipating such concerns, the Department of Correctional Services has gone out of its way to stress that Bester’s rights will be safeguarded.
According to the department, he “will continue to receive appropriate care in line with applicable legislative and policy prescripts and will retain full access to legal representation, family communication, and court processes”. Officials have also emphasised that “all necessary logistical arrangements remain in place to ensure that court appearances and legal proceedings proceed without disruption”.
This is important ahead of his July trial, which will require frequent consultations with his legal team and regular court appearances. The authorities are keen to avoid giving Bester’s lawyers an opportunity to argue that his placement in Kokstad is interfering with his right to a fair trial.
Similar concerns have already emerged in other recent high-profile cases involving eBongweni, where defence teams have complained about long travel times, consultations through thick glass and fears that conversations could be monitored. Against that backdrop, Correctional Services is at pains to present Bester’s transfer as secure but lawful and procedurally sound.
A system still recovering from the Mangaung scandal
Bester’s 2022 escape from Mangaung did more than just embarrass the state. It prompted internal investigations, parliamentary oversight and wider debate about the role of private security companies in running prisons.
Mangaung, operated by a private contractor in partnership with government, had previously been dogged by allegations of abuse, improper use of force and management failures. The revelation that Bester was able to walk out of what was supposed to be a high-security facility, behind a smokescreen of a staged cell fire and a substitute body, deepened those concerns dramatically.
The scandal forced the Department of Correctional Services and its partners to answer hard questions about:
- How a body that was not Bester’s could be passed off as his.
- How CCTV, access control and cell checks could fail so badly.
- Which officials, if any, were corrupted or complicit.
- How oversight systems and independent monitoring had missed warning signs.
The decision to place Bester now in a state-run super-maximum facility rather than a privately-operated prison is likely to be read as a recognition that his case demands the highest possible level of direct state control and accountability.
Trial on the horizon
With his trial expected to begin in July, Bester’s move to Kokstad marks the latest chapter in a saga that has gripped South Africa for years – from his original convictions for rape and murder, through the bizarre escape plot and international manhunt, to the looming court showdown that will seek to unpack exactly who helped him and how.
The trial is expected to focus not only on his actions, but also on alleged accomplices, including Nandipha Magudumana, and possibly officials or contractors who may have played a role in his 2022 escape from Mangaung. It will test the strength of the state’s case and could reveal more about the internal workings and vulnerabilities of South Africa’s correctional system.
For now, the Department of Correctional Services is emphasising routine, procedure and stability. Bester is no longer in Pretoria’s Kgoši Mampuru C-Max. He is behind the thick walls of eBongweni Super Maximum Correctional Centre, where the state will hope that, this time, its most infamous escapee remains exactly where he is until the courts have had their full say.
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