Two men have been charged with murder and arson after being accused of helping notorious convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester escape from a South African prison.

A suspended prison warden and the father of Bester’s girlfriend appeared in court to face the charges, but were not asked to plead.

Their case has been postponed until next Monday for a possible bail application. They have been remanded in police custody.

According to court documents, the two men are accused of intentionally killing an unidentified person in March last year.

Bester and girlfriend Dr Nandipha Magudumana were arrested in Tanzania on Friday.

Bester escaped from prison last May after faking his own death by planting a corpse in his cell.

The couple fled the country when the jail breakout came to light last month.

The fugitives are now under heavy police guard in Arusha Central prison, South African officials in Tanzania have said.

The officials are in the city to secure the couple’s deportation and bring them to South Africa where they will face charges in relation to the audacious escape.

Until then Bester, known as the "Facebook rapist" for using the social networking site to lure his victims, was believed to have died in a mysterious fire in his cell last May.

He was convicted in 2012 for the rape and murder of his then girlfriend, model Nomfundo Tyhulu. A year earlier, he was found guilty of raping and robbing two other women.