Tanzanian security authorities have arrested a rapist and murderer who escaped from a prison in South Africa by faking his death.

Thabo Bester remained at large for a year after it was believed that he had died by setting himself on fire in his prison cell, but investigations revealed that the body was not actually his, and as a result a manhunt was launched last month.

Bester was arrested on Friday with his girlfriend and a third suspect in Tanzania and will be extradited to South Africa.

Police said they believed the three had intended to flee to neighboring Kenya.

Better known as the "Facebook rapist" for using the social networking site to lure his victims, he was convicted in 2012 of the rape and murder of his girlfriend Nomfondo Tehulu, and a year before his conviction, he was again convicted of the rape and robbery of two other women.