The recent news of convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester escaping from prison has shocked the country.
Known as the “Facebook rapist”, Bester was convicted for preying on innocent, unassuming, vulnerable and somehow gullible women. He raped some, and murdered one.
He was believed to have died in a fire that engulfed his cell, leaving only charred remains of a male “inmate”. Bester was serving a life sentence for rape and murder at the Mangaung Correctional Centre.
He lured his victims to his lair – mostly young women who aspired to enter the film and modelling industries. He promised them heaven and earth, only to rape them and murder one.
His “staged” escape from prison has left more questions than answers. How did he fake his death by fire? Who helped him stage the escape?
Were the prison warders, or some prison officials, involved in his escape? Was money involved? Who paid for it? Would it have been the famous Dr Nandipha Magudumana? As the news stated, he escaped from prison to live in a million-rand mansion with the “famous” doctor.
This country has seen its fair share of serial killers and rapists, including “Sugarcane killer” Thozamile Taki, who murdered 13 women aged 18 to 25, dumping their bodies in agricultural plantations around the town of Umzinto on the South Coast of KZN, and others in Mthwalume and around Hibberdene.
On January 19, 2011, Taki was sentenced to 13 life terms for the murders and an additional 208 years, 16 years for each of his victims of armed robbery.
Moses Sithole is believed to have murdered at least 38 young women, from Atteridgeville to Boksburg from July 1994 to November 1995. Serial rapist Cedric Maake, dubbed the Wemmer Pan Killer, murdered at least 27 people in 1996 and 1997.
A serial rapist and murderer, Jimmy Maketta, known as the Jesus Killer, was convicted of 16 counts of murder and 19 counts of rape in 2007. Sipho Thwala, branded the Phoenix Strangler, went on a horrific spree from 1996 to 1997. He was found guilty of 16 murders and 10 rapes.
Could it be true when some accuse the justice system of having failed those who need it most? Some of the most vulnerable members of society – such as women and children – find themselves falling victim to psychotic, animalistic “men”.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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