Hours before a fire broke out in cell 35 where Thabo Bester was housed at a prison in Free State, a wooden kist believed to be carrying a body was driven into the facility.

At least three sources — two prison employees and an eyewitness — told Sowetan that when a bakkie pulled up with the furniture, a senior official demanded that it be checked but commotion broke out in another part of the prison and he left to attend to the fracas.

A police insider has confirmed authorities are investigating how the kist was smuggled into the maximum security facility in Bloemfontein on May 2.

Sowetan understands that when the 1.3m-long piece of furniture was offloaded around 5pm, it was carried to the prison's woodwork shop under the pretense that it was to be repaired.

“The bakkie stopped at the gate where vehicles are supposed to be searched before going in and out of the prison. There was a bit of commotion because a senior official had doubts about it...” a source said.

A second source said at that moment, a fight broke out inside the prison and the official had to rush there.

“For whatever reason, the vehicle was allowed into the facility and no one knows who allowed it to go through because the senior officer who was inquiring about the kist was coincidently called to the eco section where a fight between inmates was said to have broken out.”

A third insider said four G4S Emergency Support Team (EST) officials were then instructed by their senior to collect a “faulty kist” and take it to the workshop for repairs.

“They carried it out of the bakkie into the woodwork facility and left it there,” the insider said.

At 3am the next day, a fire engulfed the single cell allocated to Bester.

Sources said he had only been moved to the cell in Section 30 of the prison just days before the incident.

The department of correctional services then issued a statement, saying Bester had died in the fire.

However, an investigation by media organisation GroundUp has revealed that Bester is alive and had been seen shopping in Sandton, Johannesburg.

This then led to the department revealing that the burnt body had been medically confirmed not to be that of Bester and that the convict had escaped from prison.

The department's spokesperson, Singabakho Nxumalo, this week told Sowetan that they were struggling to get G4S to give them information relating to the incident.

“They (G4S) have been refusing to give us the case file and when we were doing our own investigation into the fire, we were told that some workers have  either been dismissed or suspended.

“We could not get sworn statements from them. We still don't know why those guards were disciplined because G4S tells us this is an employer-employee issue,” said Nxumalo.

However, G4S said in a statement on Tuesday that they had fully co-operated with the authorities on the investigation.

“On 5 May, following an initial investigation, G4S Correction Services (SA) alerted SAPS to a number of concerns surrounding the circumstances of the fire. 

“Three employees at MCC were suspended shortly after the incident. These employees were subsequently dismissed in September 2022, December 2022 and January 2023 for matters relating to their conduct on the evening of 3 May 2022.”

GroundUp reported that the charred remains from the prison cell were released to Bester's girlfriend, Dr Nandipha Magudumana, who in court papers said she had paid Sopema Funeral Services in Soweto to store the body.

When Sowetan asked how the body got to the funeral parlour and who brought it, Sopema Funeral Services said they could not comment unless furnished with a court order compelling them to do so.

"...due to confidentiality compliance, we cannot give out any details on the matter unless we are furnished with an official court order. As a business, we endeavor to service all our clients with dignity as they trust us at their time of grief,” they said.

Bester and Magudumana are still at large after they abandoned their luxury mansion in Hyde Park, Johannesburg, last week.

Portfolio committee on justice and correctional services chairperson Gratitude Magwanishe said they had requested a meeting with justice and correctional services minister Ronald Lamola and other officials to  account.

“We are waiting for parliament to give us permission to meet so that we really get [what is happening here] and hear their side of the story because this is really concerning,” said Magwanishe.

He said the committee was yet to sit to formulate a view on the matter, however, he was worried about the safety of SA prisons.

“ ... we want to give them [the correctional services ministry] an opportunity to explain because we have a lot of questions,” said Magwanishe.

Speaking to Sowetan, Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said “ the department of Correctional Services will in due course provide an update on its work emanating from the findings and recommendations made by the investigation report on the escape of Thabo Bester. Hence a running commentary is not ideal at this stage as it may put into jeopardy the investigations by other state agencies.”

— Additional reporting by Mpho Sibanyoni and Mpho Koka

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