Thabo Bester and his girlfriend, Dr Nandipha Magudumana, arrived in South Africa in the early hours of Thursday morning, following their capture in Tanzania last Saturday.
Reports have revealed that Bester has been detained at the high-security Kgosi Mampuru Prison in Pretoria, where he will be under constant surveillance.
Thabo Bester’s New Home Revealed: Will This Jail Finally Keep Him Secured?
Here’s a glimpse of his notorious neighbours behind the bars:
Radovan Krejcir
Radovan Krejcir was transferred to Kgosi Mampuru C-Max prison after being charged with attempting to escape from Zonderwater prison in Pretoria.
Currently serving a 35-year sentence for attempted murder, kidnapping, and drug dealing, Krejcir’s past came back to haunt him in June 2020 when his former girlfriend, Marissa Anne Christopher, admitted to aiding in his escape plan in exchange for a plea deal with the National Prosecuting Authority.
She was sentenced to either 24 months in prison or a fine of R80,000 for her role in aiding and abetting Krejcir in one of his escape attempts.
Shockingly, investigators discovered that a staggering R246 million ($18 million USD) had been allocated to ensure Krejcir’s successful prison escape. To expedite the prison break, three prison warders were paid R1.5 million each, but authorities have identified them, and their arrest is imminent.
To prevent Krejcir’s escape, he was moved to an underground isolation cell after intelligence uncovered a plan to use a helicopter to free him.
Some of the R246 million was spent to acquire the helicopter, which would whisk Krejcir away once he had escaped. The remaining funds were to be used to pay off all those involved in the plan, including the police, and for landing rights for a chartered plane to fly Krejcir out of South Africa.
Sipho Thwala
Sipho Thwala, infamously known as the Phoenix Strangler, is currently serving a 506-year sentence in Pretoria’s C-Max penitentiary for his heinous crimes. Over the course of one year from 1996 to 1997, he committed no less than 19 murders and 16 rapes.
Thwala preyed on the women of Mount Edgecombe (KZN) by falsely promising them job opportunities, only to lure them into sugarcane fields where he would bind, strangle, and bludgeon them. To evade capture, he would even resort to burning down the fields, leaving behind no evidence of his brutal acts