Pressure is mounting on the department to terminate the contract with G4S after the controversial escape of the notorious rapist and murder convict Thabo Bester.

Bester allegedly lived the high life in Johannesburg after escaping from the Mangaung prison in May 2022 after staging a well-calculated fire death in his cell.

The national commissioner Makgothi Samuel Thobakgale on Thursday held a press briefing in Bloemfontein to give the latest on the Bester saga. He said G4S has not conceded that the body found in cell 35 was not the body of Thabo Bester. They have even issued a media statement in that regard.  

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Thabakgale added the department has decided to appoint a temporary manager, Ali Mashabathakga, at G4S to control the day-to-day running of the controversial security company in Mangaung.

“The contractor has been duly informed of this decision. Mashabathakga will be supported by other officials I have appointed in order to ensure that the Mangaung Correctional Facility is able to render the required services without experiencing shortcomings.

Restoring control and prudent management systems are key priorities to ensure that the institution is run in an efficient manner. Critical to this is the enforcement of standard operating procedures where rules and regulations are aligned toward the human treatment, safety and security of inmates, officials and service providers.

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Thobakgale further told journalists that it was necessary that an intervention of this nature be undertaken due to a number of security breaches and other practices identified by the investigation report on Thabo Bester.

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"When compounded with the post-mortem and DNA sequences results, it becomes vividly clear that, as Correctional Services, we are dealing with a well-calculated and organised escape debacle. 

"Hence on an ongoing basis, the South African Police Services (SAPS) continue to investigate this matter because it has elements of criminality. Findings of the investigation report clearly reveal that Thabo Bester was assisted to escape from lawful custody on 3 May 2022, yet the contractor maintains that he died in his cell. This is contrary to the overwhelming scientific evidence available. Greatly worrying is the fact that a private vehicle was allowed inside the facility without a gate pass on the day of the escape, possibly carrying an unknown body that was burned beyond recognition. This talks to a facility that has compromised its security systems beyond any reasonable doubt. Tempering with surveillance cameras points to a failed monitoring system, deliberately orchestrated to conceal crucial evidence and individuals who aided Bester to escape.

"The tempering of the security systems by G4S is also a failure to guarantee the safe custody of inmates and a breach in terms of the responsibility allocated to the contractor".

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The security company has for the past few years grabbed headlines following a variety of incidents inside the facility and outside its premises.

In December 2022, an inmate at the Mangaung Correctional Centre under the management of G4S – who was under the guard of the security company – escaped from the Universitas Academic Hospital. This inmate, Chris Potgieter, escaped from the hospital on Tuesday 27 December where he had been receiving medical attention under guard.

He was later re-arrested. The spokesperson for the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), Singabakho Nxumalo, told OFM News that Potgieter was re-arrested on the evening of Wednesday 28 December.

According to a source, Potgieter was re-arrested by members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in Koffiefontein.

Nxumalo said an investigation has thus been instituted to ascertain what happened and how Potgieter escaped on the said day.

In 2021, police spokesperson, Motantsi Makhele revealed that a 26-year-old man was stabbed multiple times with a sharp object by other inmates.

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With the Thabo Bester saga, different roleplays suggest that the saga has now put the security company in a tight spot with the department as many continue to call for the scrapping of its contract. It’s understood that the contract between the department and G4S is said to end in 2026. 

It’s also understood that three G4S officials have been suspended pending further investigations into the Bester saga.

OFM News