As convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester languishes in the Kgosi Mampuru II correctional facility in Pretoria, reports have revealed that he and his girlfriend Dr Nandipha Magudumana enjoyed luxury getaways at a hotel in Bloemfontein just weeks before his escape.
Bester and Magudumana arrived back in South Africa on Thursday.
The Facebook rapist faked his own death with Magudumana’s help to facilitate the prison escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre (MCC) in the Free State.
According to a report by The Sunday Times, the couple stayed at the Tredenham Boutique Hotel, just 25km away from the MCC in March and again in April using one of Bester’s aliases, TK Nkwana.
The Citizen last week revealed that Bester was travelling under at least 19 aliases when he brazenly escaped from the MCC, one of which was TK Nkwana.
The Sunday Times report also revealed that an invoice from the hotel, showed Bester and Magudumana stayed for four nights at the hotel checking in on Thursday, March 24 2022 and out on Monday, March 28.
However, the hotel’s owner said their booking system showed the couple had stayed a further night, checking out on Tuesday, March 29 and were back were two weeks later, checking in for one night on Wednesday, April 13.
Hotel owner Gavin Jacobson confirmed the authenticity of the invoice saying the reservations were made online through the platform booking.com.
“We have extensively questioned the staff, and no-one could recall any details around the guest(s) and if Dr Nandipha Magudumana was accompanied by anyone.”
However, several staff confirmed Bester had stayed there with Magudumana but did not know who they were at the time until police came to question management.
