Thabo Bester Court Appearance

The case against convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester is set to continue in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

Bester is expected to make a brief appearance, alongside seven others accused of assisting him to escape while he was serving a life sentence at the Mangaung Correctional Facility in 2022.

The case against all eight accused is expected to be postponed for further investigations.

Five former G4S employees will, thereafter, proceed with their application for bail that rolled over from last week.

The last time Bester appeared before court, he raised concerns over his health, claiming he did not eat food while in detention in fear of being poisoned.

Bester also tried to address the court himself but was shut down by the magistrate.

Last week, an investigating officer testified how Bester paid about R150,000 to former G4S security supervisor Senohe Matsoara to facilitate his escape and how he walked out of prison dressed in a G4S security guard uniform.

Bester faces 11 charges pertaining to fraud, violating a body, corruption, in terms of giving a benefit, arson, escaping from lawful custody and defeating the ends of justice.

Meanwhile Facebook rapist and murderer Thabo Bester made a virtual appearance at the Bloemfontein Magistrates' Court on Tuesday and revealed that he would be represented by two new lawyers.

This after Ishmail Attorneys had abandoned the case.

Bester appeared separately from his girlfriend and celebrity doctor Nandipha Magudumana, who also made a virtual appearance inside a court building secluded from six other alleged accomplices.

He appeared at the Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria wearing a Burberry hoodie, which costs approximately R19 000.

READ: Bester’s escape could unveil an intricate web of corruption, experts say

He said a lawyer identified as Advocate Tsoeunyane Pela was among two of his legal representative.

Meanwhile, in a different courtroom, Magudumana also made a virtual appearance while her father, Zolile Sekheleni (65), joined the five other accused in Bester’s escape.

The case was postponed to June 20 for further investigations.

Bester allegedly orchestrated an audacious escape from the Mangaung maximum facility in May last year. In his previous appearance before the same court, he wanted to be furnished with repatriation documents after he was recaptured with Magudumana in Tanzania last month. The court told him to address those grievances with the relevant authorities.

Magudumana’s father and his co-accused, former G4S prison warden Senohe Matsoara, appeared in the same court and are facing charges linking them to the body that was found inside a cell at the Mangaung Correctional Centre, following Bester's escape.

Free State National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said not only was there a possibility of more people being arrested, but more charges could also be added. National commissioner of Correctional Services Makgothi Thobakgale announced that a temporary manager had been appointed to take control of Mangaung Correctional Centre (MCC) from G4S, following the news of Bester’s prison break.

He said during a press conference on Tuesday at the prison in Mangaung:

This is a necessary remedy following this embarrassing incident, which has undermined the authority of the state.

The appointed temporary manager is Patrick Ali Mashabathakga.

MCC is a maximum security prison and the second-largest private prison in the world. It is operated and partly owned by multinational security company G4S through a South African subsidiary. MCC was opened in 2001 and was awarded a 25-year contract to operate the facility as part of a consortium.

Thabo Bester, his partner Dr Nandipha Magudumana, her father and five other accused will appear in the Bloemfontein magistrate's court on Tuesday.

The correctional services department has confirmed the convicted murderer and rapist will appear virtually in court.