Thabo Bester’s Mother Lives in Poverty 💔 While His Millions Cause Outrage Online

Johannesburg, South Africa (Al Jazeera) — The stark contrast between Thabo Bester’s multimillion-rand lifestyle and his mother Maria Mabaso’s poverty in a Sebokeng RDP house has ignited a firestorm of heartbreak and scorn on social media.

As the Netflix documentary Beauty and the Bester trends, Mzansi is reeling over the “Facebook rapist’s” wealth—amassed through scams and crime—while his mother, who longed to reconnect with her son, struggles in a modest government-subsidized home. Social media reactions, laced with pain and biting humor, reflect a nation grappling with the complexities of family, crime, and inequality.

Maria Mabaso, 60, has lived a life marked by hardship. Unregistered at birth due to her mother’s farm work, she couldn’t register Thabo, born in 1986 at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, until 2002 when she took her aunt’s surname. Raised by her grandmother in Johannesburg while Maria worked as a domestic worker in the Free State, Thabo vanished at 16, only resurfacing in 2011 when jailed for rape and fraud.

In a 2023 eNCA interview, Maria expressed anguish, yearning to hug her son despite his crimes, saying, “I wish I was there for him, especially after my mother died.” She confirmed his identity via DNA in 2024 but wants no part in his ongoing trial for faking his death and escaping Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022.

Bester, 39, lived lavishly post-escape, renting a R12 million Hyde Park mansion with celebrity doctor Nandipha Magudumana for R70,000 monthly, funded by their scam construction firm, Arum Properties, which defrauded clients of millions. He claimed R30 million in luxury goods went missing after his April 2023 arrest in Tanzania, where he and Magudumana fled after running sham businesses like 21st Century Media.

Meanwhile, Maria remains in a basic RDP house, a government initiative for low-income families, often cramped and under-resourced in areas like Sebokeng, where over 30% of residents live below the poverty line, per Stats SA.

Social media erupted with reactions, blending empathy for Maria’s plight with cruel jabs at her appearance and choices. Khomotso Selala posted on X, “What if they gave her money to build a house nd she bought creams with it ,” while Mathebe Tinky Macbarbie wrote, “Besides the poverty she must stay away from di cream Creams creamed her until she is cooked! .” Others, like Mdu Tintswalo Mvelase, mocked, “He can’t recognise her she looks like braai meat went wrong.” Mravoh Nzuza took a harsher stance: “She’s reaping the fruits of her labour! Thabo was raised by Gogo.” Duduzile Na-Masanabo Dude added, “Dr Nandipha was fixing ppl skin problem, but didn’t even do any trial on the mma in law, ayy bophelo ke vinegar xem.” Lee Patricia Smangele noted a resemblance, saying, “Round face, lips, eyes and eyebrows, his mom’s twin, you can tell she was streetwise, Thabo ufuzile.”–

The comments reflect South Africa’s complex social fabric—where poverty, crime, and celebrity culture collide. Many expressed heartbreak over Maria’s situation, with @JoziHeart tweeting, “It’s gut-wrenching to see Thabo’s mom in an RDP house while he lived like a king. #BeautyAndTheBester shows how crime pays, but not for family.”

Others criticized the mockery, with @SowetoVoice posting, “Laughing at her poverty and looks is low. She lost her son to crime, not creams.” The ridicule, often targeting Maria’s appearance, mirrors broader online trends where skin-lightening products, widely used in South Africa, become fodder for insults, especially against women in poverty.

Bester’s wealth, built on fraud and violence, including the 2011 murder of girlfriend Nomfundo Tyhulu, contrasts sharply with Maria’s struggle. His unregistered status at Home Affairs—due to Maria’s own lack of documentation—enabled his aliases like “TK Nkwana,” fueling scams that funded his opulence. In prison, he was a “powerful figure,” reportedly with stacks of cash, raising questions about who bankrolled his legal battles and lifestyle. Maria, meanwhile, couldn’t afford to visit him in Bloemfontein, a pain she shared in 2023: “I had no money to travel.”

The Beauty and the Bester documentary, released September 12, 2025, has amplified scrutiny, with Bester’s failed court bid to block it sparking more buzz. As Mzansi debates Maria’s poverty against her son’s millions, the story exposes deeper truths: a broken system that failed to register Bester, a mother’s enduring love despite abandonment, and a society quick to judge the poor while fascinated by criminal wealth. Will Maria ever see justice, or will she remain a footnote in her son’s notorious saga?