Father of charred body found in Bester’s cell won’t rest until truth is revealed

The father of 32 year old Katlego Bereng whose charred corpse was recovered from Mangaung Correctional Centre’s cell 35 that used to house escaped rapist and murderer Thabo Bester says he will not rest until the truth about his son’s death is revealed.

Batho Mpholo from Tembisa East of Johannesburg, says his son lived with his maternal grandmother at Ipopeng in Bloemfontein when he went missing in March last year.

SABC speaks to the family of the deceased found in Bester’s cell:

He says in April (2022) when he realised that a month had passed without him being able to reach Katlego via cellphone and he also noticed that he was no longer active on social media, Mpholo phoned Katlego’s mother who also had not seen their son for a month.

Mpholo says he asked the mother to report their missing son to the police. A year later investigations revealed that the body that was found in Bester’s cell matched the mother’s DNA.

Batho Mpholo, “My heart is broken, I don’t know what to say, I don’t know what to do because yes I know that one day we will die. But I didn’t expect my son to die that brutal way especially when there in no truth surrounding his death. My humble plea to the South African government, our Minister of police – we need the truth nothing but the truth about my son’s death. )