How Thabo Bester conned the elderly in his primary school days

Many labels come to mind when one thinks of Thabo Bester including; rapist, murderer, escapee, scammer, abuser and liar.

According to the Facebook rapist’s primary school teacher at Laerskool Danie Theron in Kibler Park in Johannesburg, while his peers were learning how to read and write, he was practicing his extortion skills — Zimoja reports.

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A YOUNG THABO BESTER TARGETED THE ELDERLY AND MOTHERS

Bester’s teacher explained that he used his poor background to get people to buy him books, school case or pay for his bus fares. At the time, he was living with his maternal grandmother, Johanna Bester.

As young as he was, Bester reportedly started taking advantage of people’s kindness. He began bunking school to scam people outside the premises.

“He used to go to Eastgate and ask people to sponsor him for a Rugby Tour,” his teacher said.

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According to his teacher, Bester targeted the elderly as well as mothers.

One of his victims was an old man who opened a bank account on his behalf and raised funds for him. Bester reportedly withdrew the funds from the bank account without the old man’s knowledge or consent. When the old man reported him to the school, he was not in attendance and had spent his day at Eastgate Mall.

“There were no signs of being remorseful and I knew then that one day, he was going to do something major that would land him here,” the teacher explained.

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STEALING FROM THE AGE OF FOUR

However, that was not his first involvement in crime. According to IOL in October 2011, the notorious killer and rapist started his criminal activities at the age of four.

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Nelléne Louw, a Kibler Park businesswoman, revealed to the outlet that the convicted criminal was only four years old when he lied to his grandfather, Abel Bester, that she had given him the large sum of money he had been found with.

“There was a knock at the back door and there stood a grandfather and this small boy. The old man asked if I had given money to the child. I said no,” said Louw.

At the age of five, he allegedly stole a bottle of coins from the Ferreira family who were his grandparents’ employers in Eikenhof.

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THABO BESTER’S ESCAPE AND ARREST

The article was published two months after he killed his then-girlfriend and saleswoman Nomfundo Tyhulu in Cape Town. In November 2012, he was sentenced to life in prison for Tyhulu’s murder and the rape and aggravated robbery of two women in Durban. He also comitted a spate of rapes and robberies in at least four provinces.

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After staging his death in a fire and escaping from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in May last year, Bester and his accomplice girlfriend Dr Nandipha Magudumana were arrested in Tanzania on 7 April.

Bester is currently detained at Kgosi Mampuru II C-max prison in Pretoria and will appear appear in court in 16 May. The celebrity doctor, who appeared at the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on 17 April, was denied bail and will appear again next month.

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