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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zolile Sekeleni, Nandipha Magudumana’s father, was granted R10,000 bail in the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court on Monday. But Magudumana , former G4S employee Senohe Matsoara and Teboho Lipholo will remain in custody until 3 and 4 May, when their formal bail applications will be heard.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Matsoara is a former G4S security officer at Mangaung prison and Lipholo is a former employee of Integritron, the company that maintains the surveillance cameras in Mangaung prison. Both were on duty on the day of the fire in escapee Thabo Bester’s prison cell.</span>\r\n\r\n<b>Read more in Daily Maverick: Damning timeline</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> — </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-04-12-damning-timeline-government-knew-of-thabo-bester-escape-as-early-as-october-2022-but-failed-to-act/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Government knew of Thabo Bester escape as early as October 2022 but failed to act</span></a>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1651089\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ED_444840.jpg\" alt=\"Zolile Sekeleni, Dr Nandipha Magudumana\" width=\"720\" height=\"427\" /> <em>Zolile Sekeleni (centre) with his co-accused daughter Dr Nandipha Magudumana (right) appear at Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on April 17, 2023 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Frikkie Kapp)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Proceedings were briefly delayed because of rolling blackouts.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prosecutor Sello Matlhoko told the court that the state does not oppose bail against Sekeleni but opposes it against the other three accused. They face several charges, including murder and assisting Thabo Bester to escape.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sekeleni’s lawyer, Themba Diba, emphasised to the court that they both agreed on Sekeleni’s bail. His case will be heard on 16 May when he will appear with Thabo Bester.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Magudumana wore a hoodie and an N95 mask to cover her face in the heavily guarded courtroom. The magistrate asked her to remove the mask and show her face so that she could be identified. After Diba unsuccessfully tried to convince the magistrate otherwise, Magudumana briefly removed her mask before putting it back on.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lipholo has had no lawyer until now but will be represented by Legal Aid. </span><b>DM</b><b> </b>\r\n\r\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First published by </span></i><a href=\"https://www.groundup.org.za/article/nandipha-madugumana-accomplices-to-stay-in-prison-for-now-her-dad-has-been-granted-bail/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GroundUp</span></i></a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.</span></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/2023-04-17-nandipha-madugumana-accomplices-to-stay-in-prison-for-now-her-dad-has-been-granted-bail/\" alt=\"\" />",
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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;\">Zolile Sekeleni, Nandipha Magudumana’s father, was granted R10,000 bail in the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court on Monday. But Magudumana , former G4S employee Senohe Matsoara and Teboho Lipholo will remain in custody until 3 and 4 May, when their formal bail applications will be heard.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Matsoara is a former G4S security officer at Mangaung prison and Lipholo is a former employee of Integritron, the company that maintains the surveillance cameras in Mangaung prison. Both were on duty on the day of the fire in escapee Thabo Bester’s prison cell.</span>\r\n\r\n<b>Read more in Daily Maverick: Damning timeline</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> — </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-04-12-damning-timeline-government-knew-of-thabo-bester-escape-as-early-as-october-2022-but-failed-to-act/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Government knew of Thabo Bester escape as early as October 2022 but failed to act</span></a>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1651089\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1651089\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ED_444840.jpg\" alt=\"Zolile Sekeleni, Dr Nandipha Magudumana\" width=\"720\" height=\"427\" /> <em>Zolile Sekeleni (centre) with his co-accused daughter Dr Nandipha Magudumana (right) appear at Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on April 17, 2023 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Frikkie Kapp)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Proceedings were briefly delayed because of rolling blackouts.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prosecutor Sello Matlhoko told the court that the state does not oppose bail against Sekeleni but opposes it against the other three accused. They face several charges, including murder and assisting Thabo Bester to escape.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sekeleni’s lawyer, Themba Diba, emphasised to the court that they both agreed on Sekeleni’s bail. His case will be heard on 16 May when he will appear with Thabo Bester.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Magudumana wore a hoodie and an N95 mask to cover her face in the heavily guarded courtroom. The magistrate asked her to remove the mask and show her face so that she could be identified. After Diba unsuccessfully tried to convince the magistrate otherwise, Magudumana briefly removed her mask before putting it back on.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lipholo has had no lawyer until now but will be represented by Legal Aid. </span><b>DM</b><b> </b>\r\n\r\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First published by </span></i><a href=\"https://www.groundup.org.za/article/nandipha-madugumana-accomplices-to-stay-in-prison-for-now-her-dad-has-been-granted-bail/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GroundUp</span></i></a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.</span></i>\r\n\r\n<img class=\"skip-lazy\" style=\"display: none; width: 1px;\" src=\"https://thirdpartyhits.groundup.org.za/counter/hit/dailymaverick/2023-04-17-nandipha-madugumana-accomplices-to-stay-in-prison-for-now-her-dad-has-been-granted-bail/\" alt=\"\" />",
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Zolile Sekeleni (centre) with his co-accused daughter Dr Nandipha Magudumana (right) appear at Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on April 17, 2023 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Frikkie Kapp)