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Beauty and the Bester isn't your typical true-crime documentary, but it's the kind that grabs you by the collar and refuses to let go. Netflix's three-part true-crime series takes us straight into one of South Africa's most jaw-dropping crime stories, centered on Thabo Bester, a man who went from being called the "Facebook r*pist" to someone who faked his own death in an extremely high-security prison.
The shocking point that has left everyone speechless is the 2022 fire at Mangaung Prison, where authorities believed Bester had committed s*icide and burned himself to death, only for the truth to come out in the most startling way. The truth was, the burned body was not his. Beauty and the Bester builds up this moment with suspense and detail, making it feel more like a thriller movie than a true-crime murder documentary.
Let's walk through the biggest beats of this chaotic, unbelievable story.
Read below to find out more. Trigger Warning is advised.
The making of the “Facebook r*pist” as seen in the true crime docu-series Beauty and the Bester
Before the prison fire twist, 'Beauty and the Bester' takes us back through Thabo Bester's early crimes. In 2011, South Africa was just beginning to get used to social media, and Bester found his hunting ground there quite easily.
He pretended to be a modeling agent on Facebook, and with this, he lured vulnerable women with promises of helping them get glamorous gigs and fat, big paychecks. Once they agreed to meet him, he turned violent, r*ped them, and also stole their valuable items like laptops, cash, and anything else he could find on them.
But things began to grow even darker. Later that same year, he checked into a Cape Town hotel with his girlfriend, Nomfundo Tyhulu. By morning, he was gone, and Ms. Tyhulu was found dead. It was the hotel staff who discovered her body beneath layers of blankets, showing signs of being brutally attacked and murdered.
Thabo Bester's calm but chilling interview snippets shown in the docu-series, where he admitted he always had the urge to threaten with a knife and take control of others, are the most haunting things anyone could hear. This is the kind of confession that reveals just how far his psyche had deteriorated and fallen.
Life inside prison and the story of Dr. Nandipha
Prison was meant to contain and restrain him, but 'Beauty and the Bester' shows how Thabo turned jail into his own little game and stage. Guards were advised to keep away from his silver tongue, but he still managed to charm any visitors he received. Women visited him frequently, and over time, one name kept surfacing more often: Dr. Nandipha Magudumana.
Now, here's the catch: Dr. Nandipha Magudumana wasn't just anyone. A well-known doctor with her own clinic, she had a large social media following and was quite well known and recognized in the beauty world. She was the last person you'd expect to fall for a convicted killer and a rapist. Yet, 'Beauty and the Bester' takes us exactly through that journey. In 2022, when a deadly and huge fire broke out in his cell, it was Nandipha who came forward to claim Thabo's dead body. Her claim shocked everyone, especially since Bester's mother was alive and should have been the one to handle her son's body.
However, Nandipha insisted she was Thabo's wife under customary law. That's when suspicions first started to grow. Why was she rushing? Why was she so eager to claim the body when Thabo's mom was still alive? The seeds of doubt that were planted ended up being the foundation for one of the show's biggest jaw-dropping twists and moments.
The fire that fooled an entire nation as seen in Beauty and the Bester
This is where Beauty and the Bester really accelerate into fifth gear. It was the authorities who initially claimed Bester had set himself on fire in his prison cell. But cracks in the story appeared almost immediately. The autopsy did not match the official account of what had occurred.
The victim's body had head trauma, and there were also no signs of smoke damage, and most importantly, the biggest clue was that the DNA did not match Bester's mother. Weird right? How would a son's DNA not match his mother's DNA? A full-on thinker.
Now the audience watching at home watched as the investigators peeled back the layers, realizing this wasn't a suicide at all. It was a massive cover-up if anything. And the way the show comes about this realization, it feels almost cinematic, like it's not just a documentary being told.
We see how a false body was somehow smuggled into the prison, a guard uniform that had been suddenly swapped, and Bester walked out the door during all of the fiery chaos.
Beauty and the Bester clearly shows this isn't a solo effort. Prison guards from the private firm G4S were somehow involved; some were clearly bribed, while others simply looked the other way. The fact that such a bold escape succeeded in a maximum security prison still feels strange and unreal, and the documentary captures that disbelief that swept through South Africa when the truth came out.
The mastermind and the enabler being two different people
Now, if Bester was the mastermind, Beauty and the Bester make sure that we, as the audience, know of Nandipha as the enabler who risked so much and everything.
This wasn't just about love; it was a crazy obsession. She arranged for bodies to be collected from a morgue and even tricked officials by claiming one body was her father's. Her own dad later told the documentary that he had unknowingly driven a corpse to the prison, believing it was just random cargo.
The show also explores Bester's fake business persona. While he was incarcerated, he pretended to be someone called "Tom Motsepe," convincing people he was a New York-based businessman. Surprisingly, he even ran a company called 21st Century Media, fooling investors with video calls where he appeared polished and suited, even though he was still in prison.
This part of the series is just as strange because it shows how they built a house of cards, lied at every turn, manipulated people, and used their charm to get away with things. Now we start reaching the end of the story with Beauty and the Bester. Their downfall, when it finally arrived, felt almost inevitable, but by then, the damage was already done. Several lives were taken, bodies were stolen, and businesses and families were torn apart just for their pleasure and obsession.
The capture and courtroom chaos in Beauty and the Bester
The final few scenes of Beauty and the Bester are all packed with tension. After being seen casually strolling around and shopping with Nandipha, the pair ran, even crossing borders with the most ease, all thanks to corruption. They were finally seen again in Tanzania in April 2023, where the police arrested them without a fight.
Now back in South Africa, their trials nearly turned into a spectacle. In court, Bester shocked everyone by demanding the death penalty for himself while asking that all others, including Nandipha, be released. It was perhaps just his desire to remain the center of attention, and the show made that as clear as ever. Meanwhile, Nandipha tried to change her story completely, claiming she was forced into the escape plan. But as the true-crime documentary shows, their behavior in court, smiling, hugging, and even holding hands, only contradicted her story.
Beauty and the Bester leave the audience questioning whether she was a victim or the most willing partner to ever exist, but the evidence seems to lean heavily toward the latter. Today, both are awaiting their sentencing. Bester is back in prison, while Nandipha is currently in a women's facility facing more than a decade if convicted. Their legal fight continues, but their grip on public attention remains strong, all thanks to Netflix's spotlight.
Beauty and the Bester doesn't just tell a crime story; it gradually reveals a real-life tragedy that feels more surreal than any fictional novel you might read. From Facebook scams to being a r*pist, to brutally murdering women in hotel rooms, to a staged prison fire, and finally to an international manhunt, Beauty and the Bester is a tale that captivates you from start to finish.
In the end, Beauty and the Bester asks one question: How far are people willing to go for power, the desire to control others, toxic love, or survival? And as long as Bester and Nandipha's trials continue, one thing is certain: Their story is far from over.
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