â ïž Dr. Nandipha RISKED EVERYTHING for Thabo Bester â But What About Katlego Berengâs Motherâs PAIN? đ§šđą
Itâs been over a year since South Africans were stunned by the revelation that Thabo Bester, dubbed the âFacebook Rapist,â had faked his own death in a maximum-security prison, escaped with the help of Dr.Nandipha Magudumana, and disappeared into luxury living while the country thought he was dead.
But in the center of this twisted true crime saga lies an even darker truthâone thatâs still being ignored, and one that has a grieving mother screaming into the void for answers.
Katlego Bereng, a 31-year-old father of two, was used as the literal body double in Besterâs fake suicide.
And now, his mother wants justice.
Berengâs burnt remains were discovered inside the prison cell that Bester allegedly âdiedâ in.
At first, authorities claimed the body was unrecognizable.
But when DNA eventually confirmed it was Katlego, the nightmare only deepened.
This wasnât just a prison escape.
This was murder.
And someoneâseveral peopleâknew exactly what they were doing.
In the months following the exposure of Bester and Dr.Nandiphaâs shocking escape plot, public attention shifted almost entirely to the power coupleâs Bonnie-and-Clyde romance.
People were obsessed with how a successful, glamorous doctor fell for a convicted killer.
Every TV interview, court appearance, and leaked WhatsApp message fed the fire.
But Katlegoâs familyâespecially his motherâwas left in the shadows, grieving a son they didnât even know had gone missing until it was far too late.
âI want answers,â Berengâs mother said in a raw and emotional interview this week.
âI want to know who knew.
I want to know why.
And I want to know how my son ended up being the one they chose to die for that man.
â Her pain is palpable, her voice shaking, but her words cutting through the media frenzy thatâs long since lost focus on the human cost of Besterâs escape.
âEveryone wants to talk about Dr.Nandipha like sheâs some tragic love story.
But what about Katlego? What about my baby?â
The most chilling part? Katlego Bereng was reportedly not even an inmate.
According to case documents and testimony, he went missing weeks before Besterâs âdeathâ and was only identified after his decomposed, burned remains were exhumed from the prison.
How his body ended up inside one of South Africaâs most secure facilities remains a terrifying mystery.
Did someone lure him there? Was he drugged? Killed elsewhere and smuggled in? Every answer leads to more impossible questions.
Dr.Nandipha, once hailed as a glamorous celebrity aesthetician and philanthropist, is now facing multiple charges including murder, corpse violation, aiding an escapee, and fraud.
Yet in every court appearance, the spotlight seems to shine brighter on her dramatic downfall than the monstrous implications of what she allegedly participated in.
Critics argue that the media circus surrounding her fashion choices and courtroom demeanor has overshadowed the trauma inflicted on victims like Bereng and their families.
SAâs obsession with the Magudumana-Bester âsoap operaâ continues, but the justice systemâs silence on Katlegoâs case has become deafening.
His family has received no official explanation, no closure, and certainly no justice.
âThey only talk about him when they need to make Besterâs story look more insane,â his mother said.
âBut to me, Katlego is not a footnote.
He was a son, a father, and a human being.
And they took him like he was disposable.
South Africans across social media have echoed her anger.
âWe must not let this government brush Katlego Bereng under the rug,â one user wrote.
Another tweet read: âDr.Nandipha loved Bester so much she risked her whole careerâbut did she kill for him too?â
Some activists are now calling for a separate independent inquest into Berengâs murder, fearing that his case is being diluted by the wider scandal.
The spotlight, they say, needs to be turned directly onto G4S (the private security company that managed the prison), the officials who approved access on the night of the supposed suicide, and every single person who handled that corpse.
As for Dr.Nandipha, her once-glamorous life is now reduced to orange overalls and guarded appearances.
And Thabo Bester? Still grinning in court, still playing the system.
Yet the most tragic figure in this entire nightmare isnât even alive to defend himself.
Katlego Bereng didnât ask to be part of a prison break.
He wasnât a mastermind or a co-conspirator.
He was an innocent manâplucked from his life and used as a decoy in a plan so evil it couldâve been fiction.
And now, his mother is left holding the fragments.
Waiting.
Demanding.
Because while the world obsesses over Nandipha and Besterâs twisted âlove story,â one mother is still asking the only question that truly matters: Who killed my sonâand why is nobody answering?