On Thursday, national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola told members of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services the police identified Bester by his fingerprints and past crimes he committed in the country.
He said the police received Bester’s fingerprints from Tanzanian authorities who arrested him earlier this week.
They also verified his identity independently.
Masemola added the escapee shared identity with two other Thabo Besters who have IDs.
Responding to committee chairperson Gratitude Magwanishe, he said: “This person does not have an identity document, so the criminal records were the only way to confirm it is indeed Bester.
“He is a South African. The person who served at the Mangaung Correctional Services Centre is the same person the Tanzanians arrested. When he arrived here, we also ran fingerprints. He is a South African. He is Thabo Bester.”
According to News24, the police were also grilled about their failure to investigate and charge Bester’s partner and alleged customary wife, Dr. Nandipha Magudumana, who is accused of claiming bodied to facilitate his escape.
One of the bodies, which Magudumana allegedly claimed to be her father, was found dumped with an identification tag still attached to it.
The second was the one she allegedly claimed to be Bester but was later proven otherwise through DNA.
Free State police commissioner Lieutenant-General Baile Motswenyane said they suspected, at one point, Magudumana, being a doctor, might have been part of a body part smuggling syndicate.
Motswenyane denied inaction on the part of the police.
“There was an inquiry opened, and this was a guarded prosecutorial investigation dealing with the cases of what happened at G4S.
“The investigation is at an advanced stage, and anything will happen at any time,” she added.
