Johannesburg - Thabo Bester, dubbed the “Facebook serial rapist”, who was allegedly spotted shopping in Sandton, has set tongues wagging across the country.
While some thought he died in a fire at a Department of Correctional Services (DCS) facility, many believe he is alive and living it up in the City of Gold.
The DCS emphasised that the investigation into the death of Bester had not been concluded and that the autopsy report had not been tabled before the department.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that Bester could be linked to three robberies while in a facility in Mangaung, Free State, where he was serving a life sentence.
According to sources, Bester is alive, and there are reports that there are people who have had encounters with him despite reports that he was dead.
An image where a man resembling him is in the company of a celebrity doctor shopping at a supermarket in Sandton went viral last week. It is still being circulated on social media.
According to IOL, despite seemingly charming and selling dreams to several aspiring models, Bester became a “Facebook rapist” who allegedly used more than 13 aliases to lure young women, raping and robbing them after promising them life-changing modelling careers.
Bester allegedly preyed on young women across South Africa, but most of his victims were from Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town and were in their early 20s.
IOL reported that he once stabbed a woman from Cape Town called Nomfundo Tyhulu to death.
Tyhulu was a car saleswoman who sold Bester a BMW in 2011. She lost her life after he stabbed her to death at a bed and breakfast establishment.
The Sunday Independent reported that he had been placed in a single cell five days before he set himself alight and was found with a cellphone and laptop in his cell.
The department and the police said an investigation surrounding his death was ongoing.
The DCS said it had noted media reports on allegations regarding the death of Bester while in custody.
The department’s spokesperson, Singabakho Nxumalo, said on May 3, 2022, the department issued a brief alert confirming an incident of death in custody at Mangaung Correctional Centre (MCC), “which is one of our public-private partnership (PPP) facilities, following reports of a fire in a single cell allocated to the said inmate”.
“We further disclosed that his body was discovered by officials employed at MCC at about 3.35am. A burnt body meant that this case could not be classified as a natural death; hence, an investigation needed to be undertaken in order to determine the cause of death. This is a standard practice for all unnatural death cases in correctional facilities,” Nxumalo said.
He said an unnatural death would mean that the South African Police Service needed to be involved in order to conduct an investigation to determine if there was foul play or a criminal element involved.
“DCS has been inundated with media enquiries on the matter, and we have clearly stated that the investigation is ongoing and there are no new developments. Almost all media inquiries received relied heavily on the so-called leaks from unidentified sources. It would be irresponsible for DCS to respond to unconfirmed or unofficial reports.
“What we have seen in recent days relates to the information supplied by these unauthorised sources, and the department is pressured to confirm or deny these reports. Let us reiterate that the investigation into the death of Thabo Bester has not been concluded and the autopsy report has not been tabled before the department,” said Nxumalo.
He said the matter had become a subject of public interest, and the department was pressing the investigation team to conclude its work so that the findings could be made available.
The Star