Thabo Bester ran a glamorous media company from prison

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While in prison in Mangaung, Thabo Bester ran a business and even appeared by video link at an event. Illustration: Lisa Nelson

• Convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester ran a glamorous media company from prison.
• 21st Century Media was made to look like a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox and was responsible for the “Women in Media” conference, which turned out to be a scam.
• Bester created a new persona, “Tom Motsepe”, posing as the company’s chairman based in New York.

Convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester was running a multi-million rand scam business while serving a life sentence for rape and murder at Mangaung Correctional Centre.

Bester posed as the “chairman” of 21st Century Media, a scam event and production company, which was made to look like a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox.

21st Century Media became the subject of a social media storm in 2018 for promoting a “Women in Media” conference with Hollywood A-listers as guest speakers, which turned out to be a scam. 

GroundUp has pictures and video footage of the glitzy launch of 21st Century Media in 2018, held at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton. The event was attended by members of Johannesburg’s high society, including celebrities Amanda Du Pont and Yvonne Chaka Chaka.

Thabo Bester appears at a glamorous Johannesburg event on 13 June 2018 via video conference, while he was in prison. Photo supplied

Attendees were told that the chairman of the company, “Tom Motsepe”, would video call in from New York. But unbeknown to the audience, the man appearing on the big screen was actually convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester, speaking from prison.

Bester appears in front of a white wall wearing a suit and designer watch. A highlights video, made after the event, contains a clip of the audience singing happy birthday to “Tom”. The date of the conference was 13 June 2018. Thabo Bester was born on 13 June.

Watch until the end to hear “Tom” being serenaded by the audience. Video supplied

At the time of the event, Bester was serving a life sentence at Mangaung Correctional Center, a private maximum security prison operated by multinational company G4S.

GroundUp published compelling evidence last week that Bester faked his death in a cell fire and escaped from prison in May 2022. There are also indications that he has been running a new business with celebrity doctor Nandipha Magudumana.

“Tom Motsepe”

Thabo Bester has used aliases throughout his criminal career. While running 21st Century Media, he was known as “Tom Motsepe” and claimed to be related to businessman Patrice Motsepe.

GroundUp spoke to several former employees of 21st Century Media. They said that “Tom” was hands-on in the company’s operations and would send money whenever it was needed. Everyone was acting under direct instructions from “Tom”.

According to former employees, he was able to persuade people to quit their jobs at established media houses to join the company. He had researched the industry well and senior members of the media knew about him, one former employee told GroundUp.

Recruits of 21st Century Media were led to believe they would be working with an industry-leading company. “Tom” introduced himself to them as an executive of 21st Century Fox and Sky Digital.

A Twitter account for “Tom Motsepe” contains photos of Bester’s face edited onto other people’s bodies. In one picture, his face is edited onto American actor Michael B. Jordan’s body.

A photo of “Tom Motsepe”, posted to Twitter, in which “Tom’s” head is edited onto the body of Michael B. Jordan. Original photo inlaid, top left. Copied for fair use

An archived copy of tommotsepe.com shows Bester wearing the same outfit he wore on the night of the company launch. The website contains several blog posts on business management.

Bester had invented an extensive backstory for “Tom”. A Board of Directors document for another of his companies, 21st Century Group, includes a profile that describes “Tom” as a “South African investment strategist magnate”, a “progressive and innovative businessman”, and a “thought leader” with “sound knowledge of how to operate a successful global brand”.

Copied for fair use

“Tom”, the profile claims, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Management from the University of Cape Town and a Bachelor’s Degree in Investment and Securities from Harvard University.

The profile lists several companies started by “Tom”, including “the world’s largest promotion company” which he started at the age of 21. It also says that he specialises in mining, investment and media.

According to the profile, “Tom” owned 33.5% of Viacom, 12.9% of 20th Century Fox and “went on to occupy” UBS Financial Services in Switzerland. (This is all ludicrous of course.)

This article was originally published by GroundUp follow the link for the full article.