Facebook rapist Thabo Bester,
The body burnt in the Mangaung Correctional Centre was not that of Thabo Bester, the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has said.
In a statement released on Saturday, the department said an internal report confirmed that Bester escaped prison on 3 May 2022.
“Critical at this stage is for Thabo Bester to be found. DCS is appealing to the public to assist with any information that may lead to the re-arrest of Bester.
“Such information should be provided to the nearest police station or a correctional services facility,” said the department statement.
According to News24, Bester, known as the “Facebook rapist”, was serving a life sentence for murder and a series of rapes.
He used the social media platform to lure women with claims that international modelling scouts were interested in them.
He would then rape them and rob them using a knife.
The official version then was that Bester set himself alight in his cell.
Bester was running a multimillion-rand scam while serving a life sentence for rape and murder at Mangaung Correctional Centre.
Bester posed as the chairperson of 21st Century Media, a scam event and production company, which was made to look like a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox.
21st Century Media became the subject of a social media storm in 2018 for promoting a “Women in Media” conference with Hollywood A-listers as guest speakers, which turned out to be a scam.
GroundUp has pictures and video footage of the glitzy launch of 21st Century Media in 2018, held at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton.
The event was attended by members of Johannesburg’s high society, including celebrities Amanda Du Pont and Yvonne Chaka Chaka.
Attendees were told the chairperson of the company, “Tom Motsepe“, would video call in from New York.
But unbeknown to the audience, the man appearing on the big screen was convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester, speaking from prison.
Bester appears in front of a white wall wearing a suit and designer watch. A highlights video, made after the event, contains a clip of the audience singing happy birthday to “Tom”.
The date of the conference was 13 June 2018. Bester was born on 13 June.
At the time of the event, Bester was serving a life sentence at Mangaung Correctional Centre, a private maximum-security prison operated by multinational company G4S.
GroundUp published compelling evidence last week that Bester faked his death in a cell fire and escaped from prison in May 2022.
There are also indications he has been running a new business with celebrity doctor Nandipha Magudumana.
‘Tom Motsepe’
Bester has used aliases throughout his criminal career.
While running 21st Century Media, he was known as “Tom Motsepe” and claimed to be related to businessman Patrice Motsepe.
GroundUp spoke to several former employees of 21st Century Media.
They said “Tom” was hands-on in the company’s operations and would send money whenever it was needed.
Everyone was acting under direct instructions from “Tom”.
According to former employees, he was able to persuade people to quit their jobs at established media houses to join the company.
He had researched the industry well and senior members of the media knew about him, one former employee told GroundUp.
An archived copy of tommotsepe.com shows Bester wearing the same outfit he wore on the night of the company launch.
The website contains several blog posts on business management.
Bester had invented an extensive backstory for “Tom”.
A Board of Directors document for another of his companies, 21st Century Group, includes a profile that describes “Tom” as a “South African investment strategist magnate”, a “progressive and innovative businessman”, and a “thought leader” with “sound knowledge of how to operate a successful global brand”.
“Tom”, the profile claims, holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from the University of Cape Town and a bachelor’s degree in investment and securities from Harvard University.
The profile lists several companies started by “Tom”, including “the world’s largest promotion company” which he started at the age of 21.
It also says he specialises in mining, investment and media.
According to the profile, “Tom” owned 33.5% of Viacom, 12.9% of 20th Century Fox and “went on to occupy” UBS Financial Services in Switzerland. (This is all ludicrous of course.)
21st Century Group and its fake companies
21st Century Media (Pty) Ltd was registered as a company with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission in 2018.
The sole director was Phumudzo Thenga who was also the sole director of 11 other registered companies with names similar to well-known international companies.
All of them, including 21st Century Media, have since been deregistered.
Companies registered by Thenga include “UBS Group” (the same name as a giant financial services firm), “United Talent Agency” (the same name as one of the biggest international casting agencies) and “Black Phoenix Digital” (the same name as UK-based PR company).
Thenga was also the sole director of “TM Financials”, which one former employee told us stood for “Tom Motsepe Financials” and shared offices with 21st Century Media.
