Due to the hardwork of journalists from GroundUp Thabo Bester was caught Photo GroundUp
South Africa – By now everyone knows about Thabo Bester, his actions and his brazen escape from prison. However not much has been said about the two brave journalists from GroundUp who exposed Bester and his escape from prison.
In late October 2022, Justice Edwin Cameron, the Inspecting Judge of Correctional Services, alluded to the fact that something strange had happened on 3 May 2022 in the Mangaung Prison. This prompted GroundUp to look into the fire which occurred in Bester’s cell. In November, Marecia Damons, GroundUp journalist, wrote the first article on Bester which, unbeknownst to her, would lead to the discovery of his prison escape and subsequent arrest.
Damon’s story questioned what really happened on that fateful day in May and gave five opinions on what could have happened, with the unlikeliest being that he had escaped. Soon after, people emailed GroundUp with some extraordinary claims about Bester. One of them being he was still running his business and scamming people from prison. As information came flying in, it became clear the story would require more than one journalist.
The dynamic duo who brought Bester into the light
After writing a second article exposing the burnt body was not Bester’s and cause of death was blunt force trauma, Damon’s colleague, Daniel Steyn,, began working side by side with her to sift through the new leads that had come through. Leads that came from prison officials and inmates. At certain points the story almost felt like a crime-thriller except this was real life, said Steyn.
“We were trying to understand who Thabo Bester is. His mindset and the crimes he committed. Those questions were always in my mind from the start. There is a point in which it felt unreal in a way because we are dealing with characters of a crime-thriller but at the same time we know that they are real human beings who are at large. So there was an element of feeling a bit nervous and vulnerable but at the same time it was a thrilling ride.”
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The dangers of writing the story
Steyn and Demons were always concerned for their safety while writing the story but things became a lot more serious in March after publishing their article posing the question on whether Bester really was killed. A day after the article was published, the picture of Bester shopping at Woolworths was sent to them. They confirmed it was him and it was taken a month after his supposed death. It was also posted on social media and it went viral. Seeing the reaction from social media and finally finding out they were right was a surreal experience for them, said Damons.
“I was just completely shocked. Although we had all this evidence to say he had escaped we still needed that confirmation that he was still alive. When we got that picture, it was almost dead certain that he had escaped and was very much alive. Just seeing how it took off on social media, it was quite a surreal experience for us.”
After this, while they were still fearful for their lives, Steyn realised the worst part was over. The story had been broadcast across the country and every major news outlet was writing on it. There would be no reason for Bester or his associates to harm them, said Steyn.
“Luckily journalists in South Africa are relatively safe. There hasn’t been any known assassinations of investigative journalists since 1994. One has to think about what the rationale is. One is to silence us but we’ve now written the story, it’s out there and the rest of the media has joined in. There are just too many people looking everywhere and it wouldn’t do them any good to execute one of us. It would do more harm than good. That is what has been comforting us.”
The story has put Steyn and Damons into the spotlight, which both acknowledge is a great thing. While they are enjoying the spotlight, the story highlights just how crucial the media is in South Africa, big or small. Without GroundUp and these two relatively unknown journalists, one wonders if the scandal of the year would ever have been exposed.
To hear how Marecia Damons and Daniel Steyn uncovered the Thabo Bester story, listen to the podcast here:
