They were back two weeks later, checking in for one night on Wednesday, April 13.
Three weeks later, Bester escaped from Mangaung Correctional Centre, a maximum-security prison, after faking his suicide by burning a body in his cell. He was dressed as a warden.
The hotel is 25km from the prison.
The department of correctional services said this week that no day or weekend passes are allowed at the prison, which houses some of South Africa’s most dangerous criminals.
The hotel bookings were made online, with Magudumana checking the couple into the hotel using her driver’s licence.
The invoice for the first four days booked in March, for R8,206.23, shows two people stayed in the presidential suite. It shows a Visa card was used on March 24 to pay R4,760, with R3,446,23 still owing when the invoice was generated on March 28.
The invoice shows that “Nkwana” was also billed R198.35 for laundry; R995 for restaurant food; R81 for drinks from the restaurant bar; R100 for tips for the restaurant staff; and R414.38 for a late checkout.
Hotel owner Gavin Jacobson confirmed the authenticity of the invoice.
“We have identified two additional bookings made under the name TK Nkwana for the following dates: 28th to 29th March 2022 and 13th to 14th April 2022.”
On the nights of March 24 and March 25 “two adults” stayed in the hotel’s luxury King Room 101 at a cost of R1,445 a night.
On March 26 they stayed in the presidential suite in room 201 at a cost of R1,870 a night. On March 27 two adults stayed in the hotel’s executive suite at R1,657.50 a night.
