Minister Ronald Lamola Says G4S Served With a Notice to Terminate, SA Celebrates: “What We Were Waiting for”

• The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola says G4S has been served with a notice of termination for the Mangaung prison contract
• This comes after news broke that Thabo Bester had escaped from the facility with the help of some officials
• South Africans are overjoyed that the contract is coming to an end and believe it should have been terminated a while ago

JOHANNESBURG - The Thabo Bester prison escape story has cost G4S the Manguang Correctional Centre contract.

Bester escaped from the facility in May 2022 and reportedly had help from G4S employees and his lover Dr Nandipha Magudumana.

The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola announced on Tuesday, 2 May, that the department had served G4S with a notice to terminate its long-standing contract.

G4S contract to end after a 25-year partnership with the South African government

Read also

Prosecutor slapped with 5 years for taking R1.5k bribe and withdrawing drunk driving case, shocking SA

According to JacarandaFM, Lamola informed Members of Parliament that a decision to send G4S a notice to terminate the contract comes after deliberation with legal experts.

The G4S contract came with a price tag of over R1 billion per year, and the company had been operating the Bloemfontein maximum security prison for 25 years.

The contract will expire 90 days after the notice is served. The Department of Correctional Services added that it has already begun to take over internal processes from G4S.

Thabo Bester was not the only prison escapee under G4S's watch

According to The Citizen, Bester was not the only prisoner who escaped from the maximum security facility.

Lamola told MPs that in the past financial year, 22 prisoners had escaped.

Read also

Thabo Bester: 2 Dismissed G4S employees arrested for Mangaung prison escape

“In the 2021/2022 financial year, we had 22 escapes from a total of 143 223 inmates. We are the first to acknowledge that one escape at our facilities is one too many," said Lamola.

The department plans to double security at the facility and harshly deal with prison officials who fail to follow standard operating procedures.

South Africans say Thabo Bester collapsed G4S

@Ausimatlhodi said:

"That contract was supposed to have been terminated long ago."

@mo_1005 said:

"This man collapsed everything in that prison."

@mkhalafoni10 said:

"Thabo Bester did not escape. He was driven out of the MCC..."

@sneza1 said:

"Good news, now moving towards the right direction. Can this be followed by resignation letters?"

@Malatjimmj said:

"This is what we were waiting for, not those excuses they were bringing on media briefings."

Dr Nandipha to make bail bid in Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court, SA wants it denied: “She’s a flight risk”

Read also

Two dangerous prisoners escape from an Eastern Cape prison on Freedom Day

Briefly News previously reported that the infamously disgraced doctor, Nandipha Magudumana and her co-accused are headed back to the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court.

Magudumana will be joined in the dock by former G4S warder Senohe Matsoara and a former CCTV technician Teboho Lipolo.

The trio will be making bail applications on 3 and 4 May in the widely reported Thabo Bester prison break case, SABC News reported.

Source: Briefly News