The mother of a convicted serial killer and rapist Thabo Bester said she will not be visiting him in prison after he was deported back to South Africa after being arrested by Tanzanian authorities.
Bester accomplished a daring high-stakes prison break from the G4S-run Mangaung Correctional Centre, faking his own death, and planting a body, only to live a luxurious life many can only dream of in Joburg.
He escaped from prison in May 2022, but his cover was only recently blown in March in an expose by non-profit news agency GroundUp, which published pictures of Bester shopping at a Sandton supermarket two months after his supposed death.
“I will allow some people to go and see him, I will never visit him, I don’t have that heart. I don’t, I don’t … I’m sure it will be my death.
“I can’t handle what I’m seeing on TV, what will happen when I see it live? … What will happen to me when I see it live? … I have other kids to live for,” said Maria Mabaso, who gave birth to Bester at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in June 1986.
Mabaso was speaking to eNCA on Friday after her son appeared at the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court after he was re-arrested in Tanzania with his girlfriend, celebrity Dr. Nandipha Magudumana.
Mabaso said she wants her son to change and be a better person.
“This child will kill me, he will kill me, this is a death sentence of a child, he won’t die, he’s still young. I’m old, I’m going to die,” she said.
Mabaso gave birth to Bester on June 13, 1986, when she was just 16 years old.
She gave Bester to his grandmother Johanna Bester, who has since died.
She denied that she abandoned her son and said it was Bester who didn’t want to live with her.
“He was never home when I went to visit. My mother brought him with his sister to come and stay with me.
“He went back to my home and the younger sister stayed … He should not blame me, he’s the one who ran away from me,” she told the broadcaster.
According to IOL, Mabaso said she was unaware that her son was living a luxurious lifestyle with Magudumana, but wished he could have at least assisted her financially.
“He should have helped his mother, even if it’s not that much… You can’t abandon your mother,” she said.
Meanwhile, it was Mabaso’s DNA that was one of the first and early signs about Bester’s supposed death at Cell 35 at the Bloem prison.
Police approached Mabaso to conduct a DNA analysis on the body found at Cell 35.
There was no DNA match.
This came as Magudumana in May last year, approached the North Gauteng High Court claiming to be Bester’s customary wife. She had intended to cremate the body.
Meanwhile, Bester has told the court he doesn’t intend to apply for bail just yet.
His matter was postponed to May 16.
Magudumana appeared in court on Thursday.
She faces charges of aiding and abetting an escapee, murder, violation of bodies, and fraud.
To date, the people arrested over Bester’s escape also include Magadumana’s father, Zolile Cornelius Sikelele, former G4S employee Senohe Ishmael Matsoara and Integritron CCTV technician Tebogo James Lipholo.
They are all expected to appear at the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
