Mansions to C-Max: Thabo Bester and Vusi Matlala are now neighbours
The trio is being kept under maximum security and 24-hour surveillance.
The C-Max correctional facility is known for housing offenders like serial rapist Ananias Mathe, serial murderer Rosemary Ndlovu and Chris Hani's murderer Janusz Walus.
On Tuesday, 8 July, Correctional Services National Commissioner, Makgothi Thobakgale, conducted a surprise raid at the Kgosi Mampuru prison.
A clip posted on social media confirmed several high-profile profiles like Thabo Bester, Vusi 'Cat' Matlala, and Radovan Krejčíř were incarcerated on the same floor.
The trio is being kept in isolation behind steel doors under 24-hour surveillance. Like Thabo Bester, Vusi Matlala now calls Kgosi Mampuru home. Both men are awaiting trial on high-profile charges.
Images via YouTube screenshot: SABC News.
Kgosi Mampuru is one of two super-maximum security prisons in South Africa, the other being Ebongweni in Kokstad.
Like Thabo Bester, Vusi Matlala has been accused of being a hotshot businessman who lived a flashy lifestyle and ran a string of businesses aided by high-ranking connections and fraudulent tenders.
Bester is still serving time for his life sentences relating to rape and murder. He is also awaiting trial over charges of his 2022 prison escape, as well as fraud, corruption, and violating multiple bodies.
Meanwhile, Matlala is currently facing charges of money laundering.
He is also charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder based on a 2023 attempted hit on his ex-girlfriend, socialite Tebojo Thobejane.
Vusi Matlala was recently transferred to Kgosi Mampuru's C-Max after he was discovered in possession of a cellphone over the weekend.
In 2023, Thabo Bester was also transferred to the maximum security facility after his prison escape from Magaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein a year earlier. During his incarceration, Bester unlawfully made use of the cellphones and laptops at his disposal in his cell.
In a follow-up raid this week, Matlala shared his concerns with the National Commissioner about his designer belongings.
Thobakgale said of Matlala's complaints: 'He knows how he needs to channel the request. The same with Thabo Bester, he made a request. And the last time I was here, he submitted something to me in writing.'
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