The government says it is unclear when a team of experts it deployed to Tanzania will return with fugitives Thabo Bester and his partner, Nandipha Magudumana, who were arrested in that country on Friday.
A multi-disciplinary team from SA, which comprises of international law experts and other legal expertise from the department of correctional services, and the National Prosecuting Authority arrived in Tanzania on Monday and are meeting with authorities to discuss what would be the best legal mechanism to apply to have the duo back in SA.
“As we understand it, these individuals may have violated the laws of Tanzania by entering the country illegally, and immigration laws of Tanzania may be applicable. “Therefore the team will have to work with Tanzanian authorities to process such a violation through the applicable laws,” said justice and correctional services spokesperson Crispin Phiri.
“Loosely put, deportation is defined as the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. “This engagement will look at questions like how long it may take and, if any, what is required to ensure the process is seamless.”
Meanwhile, a 39–year-old former G4S employee and a 65-year-old man believed to be Magudumana’s father, Zolile Sekeleni, are expected to appear before the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court on Tuesday in connection with Bester’s escape from the Mangaung, Free State, correctional facility.
The pair was arrested over the weekend and has been charged with aiding and abetting Bester to escape from lawful custody, said the police. Sekeleni was arrested in Port Edward, KwaZulu-Natal, on Friday and his co-accused was nabbed at his place of residence in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
A company search by Sowetan revealed that Sekeleni is the director of six companies, five of which are in the process of deregistering due to non-payment of fees to regulatory agency, Companies and Intellectual Property Commission.
Bester and Magudumana fled the country after news broke that Bester had faked his death from prison in May last year. They were arrested, along with a Mozambican national, by Tanzanian police on Friday night as they were making their way to the Kenyan border. They had several unstamped passports.
“Meanwhile, the delegation led by the SAPS’s deputy national commissioner responsible for policing, Lt-Gen Tebello Mosikili, has arrived in Arusha, Tanzania. The team is currently engaged with their Tanzanian counterparts to finalise all legal processes required towards bringing escapee Thabo Bester and his accomplices to justice in SA,” said police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe.
“The national commissioner of the SAPS, General Fannie Masemola has welcomed the latest arrests and confirmed that the possibility of more arrests could not be ruled out.”
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