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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;\">In a hastily arranged press conference, often incoherent and with few details provided, the Ministers of Justice and Police confirmed on Saturday that Thabo Bester and Dr Nandipha Magudumana were arrested in Tanzania on Friday night.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bester and Magudumana were arrested along with a Mozambican national who was assisting them. They were found in possession of several passports, with different names, and none of the passports had been stamped.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Police Minister Bheki Cele said that Tanzanian police had followed the fugitives as they were leaving their hotel in a black SUV. It is believed that they were on their way to crossing the Tanzanian border, presumably into Kenya.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-03-29-thabo-bester-and-dr-nandipha-magudumana-made-millions-from-construction-company/groundup-thabo-bester-saga/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1613676\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1613676\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/GroundUp-Thabo-Bester-saga.jpg\" alt=\"thabo bester\" width=\"720\" height=\"360\" /></a> <em>Thabo Bester aka the Facebook Rapist pictured on a television screen in the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town on 2 May 2012. (Photo: Gallo Images / The Times / Shelley Christians) | Front page of the autopsy of the body that may or may not have been Thabo Bester)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They were found in the Arusha region of Tanzania, which is close to the Kenyan border.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We have confirmed with all relevant authorities in Tanzania that the fugitives are being processed in the Tanzanian justice system,” said Justice Minister Ronald Lamola. “We are confident that we will receive maximum cooperation from our sister country Tanzania.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lamola said it is likely that Bester and Magudumana will be deported to South Africa as they are in Tanzania illegally. Delegates from the South African police and Department of Correctional Service will depart for Tanzania on Sunday.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/dr-nandipha-thabo-main/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1629302\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Dr-Nandipha-Thabo-MAIN.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"360\" /></a> <em>Dr Nandipha Magudumana ran a scam business with Bester after he escaped from prison. Photo: Instagram</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https://www.groundup.org.za/topic/thabo-bester-prison-escape/\">Bester escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Centre on 3 May 2022 after faking his death in a cell fire</a>. The burnt corpse found in the cell was collected by Magudumana, but it was later confiscated by police.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Magudumana then approached the Pretoria High Court, asking for the corpse to be returned to her and claiming to be Bester’s customary law wife. Court papers filed by the South African Police Service revealed that there was no DNA match between the corpse and Bester’s biological mother, therefore, the body found in the cell was not Thabo Bester.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After escaping from prison, Bester lived with Magudumana in a rented mansion in Sandton. Bester used an ID document and driver’s licence under the name \"Katlego Nkwana\". The couple operated Arum Properties together, scamming several people into </span><a href=\"https://www.groundup.org.za/article/thabo-bester-dr-nandipha-made-millions-from-property-company/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">paying millions</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for construction projects that were never completed.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The property manager of the rented mansion told <em>GroundUp</em> that Magudumana was behind on the rent. Days after <em>GroundUp </em></span><a href=\"https://www.groundup.org.za/article/did-the-facebook-rapist-die-in-his-cell-or-did-he-escape-from-prison/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">first reported</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that Bester had escaped, the mansion was </span><a href=\"https://www.groundup.org.za/article/thabo-bester-saga-dr-nandipha-magudumana-has-abandoned-her-rented-mansion/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">vacated</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It was raided by police two weeks later, on 4 April.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Citizen </span><a href=\"https://www.citizen.co.za/news/watch-thabo-besters-doctor-nandipha-and-the-abandoned-merc-at-the-zim-border/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">published</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a video this week of Magudumana being confronted by a private investigator in January this year. The investigator challenges Magudumana about a R1.35-million Mercedes-Benz she allegedly drove across the Zimbabwean border after failing to meet repayment obligations. <strong>DM</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<i>First published by </i><a href=\"https://www.groundup.org.za/article/groundup-sued-by-iqbal-surv-but-for-only-r5-million/\"><i>GroundUp</i></a><i>.</i>\r\n\r\n<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"skip-lazy\" style=\"display: none; width: 1px;\" src=\"https://thirdpartyhits.groundup.org.za/counter/hit/dailymaverick/2023-04-08-thabo-bester-nandipha-magudumana-arrested-in-tanzania/\" alt=\"\" />\r\n\r\n ",
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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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"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a hastily arranged press conference, often incoherent and with few details provided, the Ministers of Justice and Police confirmed on Saturday that Thabo Bester and Dr Nandipha Magudumana were arrested in Tanzania on Friday night.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bester and Magudumana were arrested along with a Mozambican national who was assisting them. They were found in possession of several passports, with different names, and none of the passports had been stamped.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Police Minister Bheki Cele said that Tanzanian police had followed the fugitives as they were leaving their hotel in a black SUV. It is believed that they were on their way to crossing the Tanzanian border, presumably into Kenya.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1613676\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"720\"]<a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-03-29-thabo-bester-and-dr-nandipha-magudumana-made-millions-from-construction-company/groundup-thabo-bester-saga/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1613676\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-1613676\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/GroundUp-Thabo-Bester-saga.jpg\" alt=\"thabo bester\" width=\"720\" height=\"360\" /></a> <em>Thabo Bester aka the Facebook Rapist pictured on a television screen in the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town on 2 May 2012. (Photo: Gallo Images / The Times / Shelley Christians) | Front page of the autopsy of the body that may or may not have been Thabo Bester)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They were found in the Arusha region of Tanzania, which is close to the Kenyan border.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We have confirmed with all relevant authorities in Tanzania that the fugitives are being processed in the Tanzanian justice system,” said Justice Minister Ronald Lamola. “We are confident that we will receive maximum cooperation from our sister country Tanzania.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lamola said it is likely that Bester and Magudumana will be deported to South Africa as they are in Tanzania illegally. Delegates from the South African police and Department of Correctional Service will depart for Tanzania on Sunday.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1629302\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"720\"]<a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/dr-nandipha-thabo-main/\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-1629302\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Dr-Nandipha-Thabo-MAIN.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"360\" /></a> <em>Dr Nandipha Magudumana ran a scam business with Bester after he escaped from prison. Photo: Instagram</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https://www.groundup.org.za/topic/thabo-bester-prison-escape/\">Bester escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Centre on 3 May 2022 after faking his death in a cell fire</a>. The burnt corpse found in the cell was collected by Magudumana, but it was later confiscated by police.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Magudumana then approached the Pretoria High Court, asking for the corpse to be returned to her and claiming to be Bester’s customary law wife. Court papers filed by the South African Police Service revealed that there was no DNA match between the corpse and Bester’s biological mother, therefore, the body found in the cell was not Thabo Bester.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After escaping from prison, Bester lived with Magudumana in a rented mansion in Sandton. Bester used an ID document and driver’s licence under the name \"Katlego Nkwana\". The couple operated Arum Properties together, scamming several people into </span><a href=\"https://www.groundup.org.za/article/thabo-bester-dr-nandipha-made-millions-from-property-company/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">paying millions</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for construction projects that were never completed.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The property manager of the rented mansion told <em>GroundUp</em> that Magudumana was behind on the rent. Days after <em>GroundUp </em></span><a href=\"https://www.groundup.org.za/article/did-the-facebook-rapist-die-in-his-cell-or-did-he-escape-from-prison/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">first reported</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that Bester had escaped, the mansion was </span><a href=\"https://www.groundup.org.za/article/thabo-bester-saga-dr-nandipha-magudumana-has-abandoned-her-rented-mansion/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">vacated</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It was raided by police two weeks later, on 4 April.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Citizen </span><a href=\"https://www.citizen.co.za/news/watch-thabo-besters-doctor-nandipha-and-the-abandoned-merc-at-the-zim-border/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">published</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a video this week of Magudumana being confronted by a private investigator in January this year. The investigator challenges Magudumana about a R1.35-million Mercedes-Benz she allegedly drove across the Zimbabwean border after failing to meet repayment obligations. <strong>DM</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<i>First published by </i><a href=\"https://www.groundup.org.za/article/groundup-sued-by-iqbal-surv-but-for-only-r5-million/\"><i>GroundUp</i></a><i>.</i>\r\n\r\n<img class=\"skip-lazy\" style=\"display: none; width: 1px;\" src=\"https://thirdpartyhits.groundup.org.za/counter/hit/dailymaverick/2023-04-08-thabo-bester-nandipha-magudumana-arrested-in-tanzania/\" alt=\"\" />\r\n\r\n ",
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Thabo Bester aka the Facebook Rapist pictured on a television screen in the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town on 2 May 2012. (Photo: Gallo Images / The Times / Shelley Christians) | Front page of the autopsy of the body that may or may not have been Thabo Bester)
Dr Nandipha Magudumana ran a scam business with Bester after he escaped from prison. Photo: Instagram