By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The grieving family of Katlego Bereng, whose body was used as a decoy in the escape of convicted murderer Thabo Bester from the Mangaung Maximum Correctional facility, has received the remains of their son and grandson.
This after viewing the remains of the 32-year-old at the government mortuary in Bloemfontein on Wednesday 26 April.
On Friday morning, while the family waited for the MEC of Health, Mathabo Leeto, to visit them, the grandmother suffered another shock and had to be admitted to hospital again but she has since been discharged.
Mantsane Bereng, the aunt of the deceased said, the family has not been coping well with the news, especially the manner in which they found out how their son’s body was burnt and used for Bester’s escape from jail.
She has since requested that the family be given space to grieve, despite the matter being of public interest.
“As a family, we have decided to take a step back from the media so we can be given space to grieve and to process what was revealed to us to our surprise on Sunday. We have all been following the story like any other person; however, when it came to our realisation that it was our own Katlego, it was a big shock! It was a big surprise. Obviously, we are not in the right frame of mind to be answering questions,” she said.
Bereng leaves behind two children. One is three years old and the other is five. He studied to be a paramedic and his last job was as a waiter at Spur.
His former girlfriend, Thandiwe Boleme, who is the mother of his younger son, said that Bereng was a loving father. He was unemployed at the time of his disappearance, but he would always make an effort to support his children, Boleme said.
Bereng’s best childhood friend Katlego Sebotsa said that they were both devoted fans of the Bloemfontein Celtic Football Club.
“He used to say there are many challenges in life and we should never ever give up because tough times never last but tough people do last. I feel that I have lost one of my body parts after losing my friend,” said Sebotsa.