IT was yet another heated session in the National Assembly during the second leg of the inquiry into Thabo Bester's prison escape.
Ministers were found scrambling for answers as Members of Parliament (MPs) demanded to know what they did upon realising that the convicted murderer and rapist may have faked his death to escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre.
On Thursday, 13 April, Police Minister Bheki Cele with national police commissioner Fannie Masemola, Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola and the national Correctional Service commissioner Samuel Thobakgale joined the officials from the Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services (JICS) on the grilling seat.
ALSO READ: Bester, Dr Nandipha go their separate ways!
DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach told the ministers it was an absolute disgrace, and they should hang their heads in shame over what happened.
She asked if Bester had murdered or raped another woman, what would Minister Cele had said then.
This comes after the MP learnt that the government knew about Bester’s escape in October 2022 but chose not to share the information with the public, citing they were still busy with investigations.
"The police sat on their hands and did nothing for six months so that the Department of Correctional Service could run through the prison in Mangaung and see if Bester wasn't in another cell?" said Breytenbach.
EFF MP Yoliswa Yako said the ministers' role was to investigate because they had information, but yet did nothing.
Masemola acknowledged that cops should have notified the public of the escape earlier.
Lamola apologised to Bester's victims and South Africans. He said after he was informed of the escape, he sat down in shock as he couldn't believe this could happen in South Africa.
When asked by DA MP Janho Engelbrecht if he was going to resign, Lamola said he was not.
"I did everything I was supposed to," said the minister.
