Convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester has denied that he escaped from Mangaung prison in 2022, saying he was lawfully released.
Bester appeared in the high court in Johannesburg on Tuesday where he challenged charges linked to his alleged escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022, insisting that he had been released.
Bester was serving two life sentences for the 2009 murder of his model girlfriend Nomfundo Tyhulu when he escaped.
Addressing the court wearing sunglasses, Bester said his constitutional rights were being violated and that he was being treated as guilty before any judicial finding had been made.
“I am not enjoying the rights of an accused person. At this current stage, I am being treated as a sentenced person going to trial, while the issue I am going to trial for has already been enforced,” he said.
“I believe I will never be found guilty on the escape charges, because there is overwhelming evidence that my release was not an escape in the manner that is being portrayed.”
He argued that correctional authorities had already classified him as an escapee, without due process.
“That means I am being treated as guilty before I have even defended myself,” Bester said.
He further told the court that his continued detention, particularly in conditions of solitary confinement, made it difficult for him to prepare his defence.
“I cannot properly prepare or present my case while being kept in solitary confinement,” he said.
However, the state rejected Bester’s arguments, maintaining that his incarceration was lawful.
“There cannot be a question about the lawfulness of his incarceration because there is a valid warrant of commitment that commits him to detention,” the state argued.
“It was lawful then, it is lawful now, and it continues to be lawful.”
The state told the court that Bester’s placement in the C-Max facility after his return to the country in April 2023 was in line with an existing warrant of committal.
This was after Bester and his girlfriend, Dr Nandipha Magudumana, were arrested in Tanzania.
“He was taken to C-Max not because of classification but because there is an extant warrant of committal that had to be complied with,” the state said.
It further argued that Bester’s application should not be heard on an urgent basis, saying he had long been aware of his rights but failed to act timeously.
“He has always been aware of his constitutional rights and has previously approached the courts, yet he chose not to bring this application for nearly three years. This is a clear case of self-created urgency,” the state submitted.
On the issue of harm, the state said Bester had failed to demonstrate any ongoing prejudice that would justify urgent intervention.
“He concedes in his own papers that he does not set out the severity of any alleged psychological or physical harm. There is no ongoing harm that warrants this court’s urgent intervention,” it argued.
The state rejected Bester’s claim that his presumption of innocence was being violated.
“There is no violation of his right to be presumed innocent in respect of the new charges. He remains innocent until proven guilty,” it said.
However, it emphasised that Bester remained a sentenced prisoner after his conviction by the Western Cape High Court.
“He is not a remand detainee. When he was sentenced, his right to be presumed innocent in relation to those crimes ceased,” the state argued.
Sowetan
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