Heartbroken Mom Still Seeks Justice for Her Late Son Katlego Bereng

The mother of Katlego Bereng, the man whose charred body was found in the rape and murder convict Thabo Bester’s cell at G4S prison in Bloemfontein, bears it all, her pain, grief and confusion.

Monica Matsie says she remains distraught as she finds herself forgotten, while still waiting for answers on how her son ended up in a prison cell when he has never been arrested.

The final pretrial hearing into the prison escape of Bester from the G4S prison in Bloemfontein will be heard in the Free State High Court this Friday.

It’s been an emotionally gruelling two years for the mother of the man whose charred remains were found in murder and rape convict Thabo Bester’s cell at the G4S prison in Bloemfontein.

Katlego Bereng was a 32-year-old father of two who had never been arrested in his life, but ended up in cell 35, where Bester was incarcerated.

His mother’s emotions are still as raw as when she discovered where Bereng was found.

“It’s an unbearable pain that will never go away. His children are also grown … they even know how their father was killed. The one who is six years old also attends a psychologist.”

“Is that life? He can’t even concentrate at school. Every time he meets other children, they shout Bester, Bester. He is now Bester.”

Matsie says her granddaughter, who is in Grade 1 now, faces bullying as her peers tease her by calling her Bester.

“She always asks questions. When I get sick, she gets worried because it happens over and over again. I always get admitted.”

“Last time it was for two weeks, so my health is on and off. The child cannot even sleep because of bad dreams, and he would scream at night.”

“She always says that if his dad was around, things would be different. Neither of them is coping; they ask why their dad was killed. Why did Nandipha and Bester kill their father?”