Protect investigators and witnesses in Thabo Bester escape saga, says ActionSA after death of cop leading probe

ActionSA has urged the State to protect other investigators and witnesses involved in the Thabo Bester prison escape matter, following the untimely death of the lead investigator on Monday.

Questions have been raised about the timing of the death of a senior officer, who died by suicide after allegedly shooting himself.

ActionSA is now urging the State to protect other investigators and witnesses involved in the matter.

On Monday, IOL reported that Free State Head of Organised Crime Brigadier Jackson Mkhaulesi shot himself in Bloemfontein.

This took place after the Free State high court turned down Dr Nandipha Magudumana’s bid to have her arrest and deportation to South Africa declared unlawful. The court dismissed her application as she consented to return to South Africa.

SAPS national spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the circumstances surrounding the senior officer’s death remained the subject of a police investigation.

Just before 12 midday today, one of #ThaboBester investigators, stopped his white Ford Ranger, just on the corner of Rhodes Avenue and Harvey Road in Bloemfontein and shot himself. It isn’t yet known what pushed the brigadier to take his own life. #DrNandiphaMagudumana pic.twitter.com/X0jpNvfdv8

— Mzilikazi wa Afrika (@IamMzilikazi) June 5, 2023

The brigadier had 31 years of uninterrupted service as a police officer and he was also a provincial head responsible for Organised Crime in the Free State province. #ThaboBester #DrNandiphaMagudumana pic.twitter.com/pcUFCCQEqR

— Mzilikazi wa Afrika (@IamMzilikazi) June 5, 2023

“In-house employee health and wellness experts, which include chaplains, have been dispatched to provide psychosocial services to the family and colleagues of the deceased member,” Mathe said.

“This matter cannot be taken lightly, it needs to be treated with the urgency it deserves. If, indeed, foul play is detected, the state has a duty to ensure that other investigators and witnesses do not fall prey to the same fate as this officer,” said ActionSA’s Patricia Kopane.

She said with every waking day, criminals seem to be conducting their criminal affairs without remorse or punishment and we hope that the death of this officer isn’t Thabo Bester again trying to thwart and frustrate the case being built against him for which he must answer in due course.

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IOL

• Dr Nandipha Magudumana planning to appeal extradition ruling after court keeps her behind bars

• Three errors government made in Dr Nandipha Magudumana’s ‘deportation’

• WATCH: The lead investigator in Thabo Bester prison escape probe has died, police confirm

• Motsoaledi insists R1.4 million paid for Bester’s chartered flight was cheapest