According to national police spokesperson, Athlenda Mathe, the two suspects are former employees of the controversial British security company G4S.

They were arrested by police on Workers’ Day at their residences in Bloemfontein. Mathe adds the two will be charged with assisting an inmate with escaping from lawful custody and defeating the ends of justice.

Mathe also says they will appear at the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on Wednesday 3 May.

The duo will appear alongside Bester's girlfriend, Dr Nandipha Magudumana, former G4S guard Seneho Matsoara, G4S technician Teboho James Lipholo and another G4S guard, Motenyane John Masukela.

ALSO READ: Thabo Bester accomplices remanded in custody – VIDEO

Magudumana, Matsoara, Lipholo, and Masukela will appear in court for their bail hearing – which has been set for two days. The state is set to oppose bail. They face charges of murder, arson, fraud, and defeating the ends of justice.

"The team investigating this case have so far arrested eight suspects and cannot rule out the possibility of effecting more arrests," Mathe further added.

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.

Bester and Magudumana were arrested by the Tanzanian police in April 2023 and were brought back into South Africa in the early hours of 13 April 2023.

ALSO READ: Breaking News: Bester and girlfriend back in South Africa

Bester was immediately transferred to the Kgosi Mampuru Maximum prison centre whilst his girlfriend was transferred to Bloemfontein where she made her first court appearance on the same day.

ALSO READ: Magudumana appears in Bfn court

Dr Magudumana is said to have claimed bodies from Free State Government mortuaries - one of the bodies was used in a ploy to get Bester to escape from the controversial prison.

Earlier the police announced that a DNA test showed that the body that was burnt inside cell 35 where Bester staged his escape was that of Katlego Bereng-Mpholo.

ALSO READ: Charred body in Thabo Bester's cell 35 identified

The charred body used as a decoy for the Facebook rapist and murderer Thabo Bester to escape on 3 May 2022 was found with blunt force trauma. This body was brought inside the maximum-security prison with a private vehicle.

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