Zolile Sekeleni, 65, an Eastern Cape businessman who previously had a long career as a highly respected educator, yesterday found himself in the dock for murder and for aiding Thabo Bester's escape from jail.

Sekeleni, the father of Bester's lover Dr Nandipha Magudumana, tried to use his sweater to cover his face as he tried to deny journalists in their attempts to take his pictures.

Sekeleni and his co-accused Senohe Matsoara were the first people to be brought to court in connection with the daring prison escape by murderer and rapist Thabo Bester who later skipped the country with Magudumana. The couple were apprehended by Tanzanian authorities on Saturday. 

Sekeleni was arrested at his Port Edward home in KZN on Friday while Matsoara, a former G4S employee and guard at Mangaung Correctional Service where Bester escaped in May, was arrested on Saturday in Bloemfontein. The two men appeared in the Bloemfontein magistrate's court yesterday for allegedly aiding Bester to escape. 

They also face charges of arson for the fire in Bester’s cell, defeating the administration of justice and fraud. In addition, the pair were charged with the murder with common purpose of an unknown man initially believed to be Bester, whose charred body was found in his prison cell.

Sekeleni walked up the dock armed with a sweater which he initially used to cover his face as cameras clicked endlessly until he and Matsoara were seated side by side not uttering a word to one another. With a look of confusion and humiliation on his face and noticing the relentless sounds of cameras in action, Sekeleni lowered the sweater to reveal his face.  

Sekeleni's body language was probably a far cry from the man who oozed confidence as a school teacher of 12 years in the Bizana district area in the Eastern Cape. 

According to the provincial education department spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima, Sekeleni started his teaching career in 1996 before he was promoted to senior education specialist in 2008. 

"Seemingly he was good at it because his responsibilities with his new job entailed planning the school curriculum and assessing schools. School inspectors reported to him on the conditions of schools and matters of discipline. He resigned from his post in December 2014. He had a clean record," said Mtima. 

Sekeleni then joined a string of business ventures and according to Sowetan company search, six of the five businesses he co-directed are in the process of deregistering due to non-payment of fees to regulatory agency, Companies and Intellectual Property Commission.

One of his business partners Alfred Madikizela was shocked to learn through Sowetan that Sekeleni had been arrested and was linked to the prison escape of Bester.  

“Don’t tell me that. What is he arrested for?” 

“I have been seeing this Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magudumana story on TV, but I never thought he (Sekeleni) is involved. He has never done anything untoward in our business dealings, that is why I am so shocked. He is a very soft-spoken person, calm and full of jokes,” Madikizela said. 

“We work very well together. Although he lived in Johannesburg, we had a good working relationship. He couldn’t make it to some meetings we had with the developer because he would need to attend to his wife who is not well, but he is generally a good business partner." 

“I will have to inform the other members about this and then make a decision about him.” 

Meanwhile Matsoara, who was dismissed by G4S in September, was a security supervisor believed to have received bribes for his role to aid Bester out of prison. It's alleged that he also bought himself a VW T-Roc from proceeds of crime.  

Sowetan visited Bloemanda Phase 2, where Matsoara’s neighbours said they were disturbed by the allegations against him. 

One of his neighbours said Matsoara would hangout at local drinking spots and was often generous with money and has been living in the area with his wife and two children for three years. They have since left their house following his arrest.  

Two other neighbours said Matsoara would regularly tell them that he was planning to leave the township and move to the suburbs. 

“He used to motivate us to always want better for ourselves and push to achieve what we want in life. 

After he bought a car, I was very motivated to see that he had achieved something,” another one said. 

The matter was postponed to April 17 for formal bail application.