South Africa’s prison authority has issued notice to terminate a contract with the multinational security firm G4S.
The company is responsible for running Mangaung Prison.
Last May, convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester escaped the prison by faking his own death and planting a corpse in his cell.
The escape was only discovered last month, after Bester was thought to have died in a mysterious cell fire.
He and his celebrity girlfriend were arrested last month in Tanzania.
G4S has admitted to security breaches at the facility but would not take responsibility for Bester’s embarrassing escape.
Its contract to run the prison was set to end in 2026.
However, Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola told MPs he was ending the contract early on the advice of lawyers.
Bester is now being held in another maximum security prison.
He will appear in court later this month on new charges related to the escape, including one count of murder.
Bester was convicted in 2012 for the rape and murder of his then girlfriend.
A year earlier, he was found guilty of raping and robbing two other women.
