Thabo Bester Doesn’t Exist on Home Affairs Database, Motsoaledi Says Identify Was Confirmed by Jail Records

• The Department of Home Affairs has no record of captured fugitive Thabo Bester in its system
• Home Affairs Minster Aaron Motsaledi revealed that Bester's birth was never registered and he never applied for an ID or passport
• South Africans have questioned how Bester moved through life without an identification number

PRETORIA - Though Thabo Bester has become a household name across South Africa, the Department of Home Affairs has no record that the convicted ever existed.

Speaking at a media briefing on Friday, 14 April, Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi revealed that Bester's birth was never registered.

Thabo Bester's identity was confirmed by fingerprints and criminal records

Police commissioner Lt-Gen Fannie Masemola said that while the captured fugitive had no South African ID, Correctional Services were able to confirm Bester's identity through his fingerprints and criminal record.

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Motsoaledi detailed how Bester had slipped through the cracks from the moment he was born till he was arrested in 2011.

Aaron Motsoaledi reveals how Bester was never registered at Home Affairs

Bester's mother, Meisie Maria Bester, gave birth to the convicted murderer and sexual assaulter at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in June 1986, but failed to register her son's birth, TimesLIVE reported. Like to her son, Meisie also wasn't registered when she was born in 1965 and went 37 years without an ID.

Motsoaledi said that in 2002 after her mother passed, Meisie's aunt took her to get a late registration of birth. Meisie then decided to register Bester's three younger siblings and assumed her aunt's surname of Mabaso.

Bester, on the other hand, disappeared after his grandmother's death and could not be registered because his mother lost contact with him.

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Video of Thabo Bester living soft life at Mangaung prison drops Mzansi's jaw

Motsoaledi said that Bester Never registered for an ID or passport at any stage, Newzroom Afrika reported.

The first time Bester's fingerprints were registered was when he was arrested in 2012.

South Africans are puzzled by how Thabo Bester existed without an ID

Below are some comments:

@PhilileLeaka asked:

"Is 'Thabo Bester' even his real name?"

@Ulwazi_amandla questioned:

"And how did he attend school till 11 years? No birth certificate? No clinic card from the mother? Nothing, just a word of mouth?"

@Xee_GP claimed:

"I believe there are hundreds of thousands of SAns who are 'unregistered' and don't own any form of identification."

@alanpeter796 exclaimed:

"So he had a full trial with no ID? Eish, only in SA."

Thabo Bester arrives at Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court for 1st appearance since repatriation from Tanzania

In another story, Briefly News reported that SA's infamous captured fugitive, Thabo Bester, was in the country for less than 24 hours and had already been transported to Bloemfontein for his first court appearance.

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Thabo Bester says he hasn’t eaten since being repatriated out of fear for his life, SA feels no sympathy

The convicted murderer and sexual assaulter was transported to the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court from the maximum security Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Facility in Pretoria.

Bester appeared before the court at 11am on Friday, 14 April.

Source: Briefly News