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"description": "Daily Maverick is an independent online news publication and weekly print newspaper in South Africa.\r\n\r\nIt is known for breaking some of the defining stories of South Africa in the past decade, including the Marikana Massacre, in which the South African Police Service killed 34 miners in August 2012.\r\n\r\nIt also investigated the Gupta Leaks, which won the 2019 Global Shining Light Award.\r\n\r\nThat investigation was credited with exposing the Indian-born Gupta family and former President Jacob Zuma for their role in the systemic political corruption referred to as state capture.\r\n\r\nIn 2018, co-founder and editor-in-chief Branislav ‘Branko’ Brkic was awarded the country’s prestigious Nat Nakasa Award, recognised for initiating the investigative collaboration after receiving the hard drive that included the email tranche.\r\n\r\nIn 2021, co-founder and CEO Styli Charalambous also received the award.\r\n\r\nDaily Maverick covers the latest political and news developments in South Africa with breaking news updates, analysis, opinions and more.",
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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zolile Cornelius Sikelele (65) appeared in court alongside correctional services officer Senohe Ishmael Motsoara (39) on four charges: aiding escapees, defeating the administration of justice, arson and murder. The state alleges that Matsoara on 3 May 2022 set fire to and destroyed Thabo Bester’s prison cell on the day of Bester’s escape. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Motsoara and his co-accused face a murder charge in connection with the death of an unknown male, whose body was discovered burnt beyond recognition in Bester’s cell on the day of the fire.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1644565\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/g4b_18-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"474\" /> <em>Former G4S employee Senohe Ishmael Motsoara. (Photo: Supplied)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Convicted rapist and murderer Bester — dubbed the Facebook rapist — escaped Mangaung Correctional Centre, run by security company G4S, after which it is alleged that the unidentified male body was transported to the cell and set alight.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dr Nandipha Magudumana and Bester became criminal internet sensations overnight when </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GroundUp</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> broke the story that Bester — initially believed to have died in the Mangaung prison fire — was still alive.</span>\r\n\r\n<b>Read more in Daily Maverick:</b> <a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-03-30-govt-embarrassed-by-thabo-bester-escape-as-control-of-mangaung-prison-taken-from-g4s-clutches/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Govt ‘embarrassed’ by Thabo Bester escape as control of Mangaung prison taken from G4S clutches</span></a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The couple had been hiding out in a mansion in Sandton before abandoning the premises when the story broke of Bester’s daring and elaborate escape. Magudumana and Bester were arrested in Tanzania this past weekend.</span>\r\n\r\n<b>Read more in Daily Maverick:</b> <a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-04-08-thabo-bester-and-nandipha-magudumana-arrested-in-tanzania/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magudumana arrested in Tanzania</span></a>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1644569\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/g4b_17-cropped.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"360\" /> <em>Zolile Sekeleni (65) Dr Nandipha Magudumana's father. (Photo: Supplied)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The case was postponed to 17 April for a formal bail application. State prosecutor Sello Matlhoko said, after a discussion with defence lawyers, that it was agreed the accused will be detained in Brandfort Correctional Centre. This is because Matsoara had served as a correctional services officer at Mangaung Correctional Centre.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sikelele and Motsoara will remain in custody until their next appearance. </span><b>DM</b>",
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"description": "Convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester and his accomplice Nandipha Magudumana were extradited to South Africa from Tanzania on 13 April 2023. They were on the run for almost a year.\r\n\r\nIn October 2022, the Inspecting Judge for Correctional Services, Justice Edwin Cameron wrote to Minister of Correctional Services Ronald Lamola:\r\n\r\n“There are indications that, with the collusion of G4S employees and others, a fire was staged in the single cell of one Thabo Bester (the notoriously named so-called ‘Facebook rapist’) and a corpse was smuggled into the cell with the objective of faking inmate Bester’s death and facilitating his escape.”\r\n\r\nBester was arrested in Tanzania along with his associate Nandipha Magudumana on 7 April, eleven months after his escape. But it appears that efforts to apprehend him only started on 24 March.\r\n\r\nThis was after details of Bester’s escape were uncovered by GroundUp.\r\n\r\nAccording to a source who worked at the prison at the time of Bester’s escape, the cell where Bester was kept was on the second floor of the prison. Next to this cell, there is a door that leads down to the exit. “It seems that he would have been able to escape through those doors,” the source said.\r\n\r\nThese doors can only be opened by the control room, the source explained.\r\n\r\nBester has been widely dubbed the \"Facebook rapist\" by the media. He used the social media platform to lure women with claims that international modelling scouts were interested in them.\r\n\r\nHe would then rape them and rob them using a knife. He also murdered at least one of his victims.\r\n\r\nIn 2012, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for these crimes.",
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"name": "Zolile Sekeleni (65) doctor Nandipha's father and Senohe Matsoare (39) a former G4S employee briefly appeared in the Bloemfontein magistrate court. It is alleged they helped in the escape to Thabo Bester. The matter has been postponed until the 17 of April 2023 for further bail information. 11 March 2023. Photo: Supplied",
"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zolile Cornelius Sikelele (65) appeared in court alongside correctional services officer Senohe Ishmael Motsoara (39) on four charges: aiding escapees, defeating the administration of justice, arson and murder. The state alleges that Matsoara on 3 May 2022 set fire to and destroyed Thabo Bester’s prison cell on the day of Bester’s escape. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Motsoara and his co-accused face a murder charge in connection with the death of an unknown male, whose body was discovered burnt beyond recognition in Bester’s cell on the day of the fire.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1644565\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1644565\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/g4b_18-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"474\" /> <em>Former G4S employee Senohe Ishmael Motsoara. (Photo: Supplied)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Convicted rapist and murderer Bester — dubbed the Facebook rapist — escaped Mangaung Correctional Centre, run by security company G4S, after which it is alleged that the unidentified male body was transported to the cell and set alight.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dr Nandipha Magudumana and Bester became criminal internet sensations overnight when </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GroundUp</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> broke the story that Bester — initially believed to have died in the Mangaung prison fire — was still alive.</span>\r\n\r\n<b>Read more in Daily Maverick:</b> <a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-03-30-govt-embarrassed-by-thabo-bester-escape-as-control-of-mangaung-prison-taken-from-g4s-clutches/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Govt ‘embarrassed’ by Thabo Bester escape as control of Mangaung prison taken from G4S clutches</span></a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The couple had been hiding out in a mansion in Sandton before abandoning the premises when the story broke of Bester’s daring and elaborate escape. Magudumana and Bester were arrested in Tanzania this past weekend.</span>\r\n\r\n<b>Read more in Daily Maverick:</b> <a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-04-08-thabo-bester-and-nandipha-magudumana-arrested-in-tanzania/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magudumana arrested in Tanzania</span></a>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1644569\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1644569\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/g4b_17-cropped.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"360\" /> <em>Zolile Sekeleni (65) Dr Nandipha Magudumana's father. (Photo: Supplied)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The case was postponed to 17 April for a formal bail application. State prosecutor Sello Matlhoko said, after a discussion with defence lawyers, that it was agreed the accused will be detained in Brandfort Correctional Centre. This is because Matsoara had served as a correctional services officer at Mangaung Correctional Centre.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sikelele and Motsoara will remain in custody until their next appearance. </span><b>DM</b>",
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Former G4S employee Senohe Ishmael Motsoara. (Photo: Supplied)
Zolile Sekeleni (65) Dr Nandipha Magudumana's father. (Photo: Supplied)