Thabo Bester, Nandipha Magudumana will face additional charges - law expert
As two people are due to appear in a Bloemfontein court on Tuesday in connection with the Thabo Bester prison escape, a legal expert says the convicted murderer and his partner will face a string of charges when they are brought back to South Africa.
Senior police and other officials have flown to Tanzania to facilitate the return of the fugitives.
Bester, who was also convicted of rape, and Nandipha Magudumana were arrested in Arusha on Friday with the help of Interpol.
A Mozambican national who was allegedly helping them was also nabbed.
The trio is understood to have been heading to Kenya illegally, with several unstamped passports.
Justice Minister Ronald Lamola said over the weekend that Bester and his partner were facing immigration charges.
READ: Two men to appear in court for Thabo Bester escape
"Thabo will be charged with escaping from lawful custody and together will all the other relevant issues that go with that for the purposes of having him placed back in custody for the remainder of his prison term,” explains legal expert Sunil Singh.
“Anything else they unravel because, remember, they found a whole lot of passports with him, so there are fraud charges that are going to be coming through and defeating the ends of justice.”
Singh says Magudumana faces at least four charges.
"In terms of the Human Tissue Act, she is going to be charged because I believe that the bodies that were used to cover up his escape were produced by her.
"So once they establish those facts, they will charge her in terms of the Human Tissue Act; together with that, they will charge her for aiding and abetting by Thabo escaping, defeating the ends of justice and also the documentation which she had in her possession which will align with the issue of fraud charges."
