By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Convicted murder accused Thabo Bester is challenging his transfer from Kgosi Mampuru to the maximum-security Ebongweni Prison in Kokstad, with his case due in Pretoria High Court next week, 13 Feb 2026.
Bester approached the Johannesburg High Court seeking an order to declare his transfer unlawful, invalid and unconstitutional.
He is the second high-profile accused to be transferred from Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Facility in Pretoria to the super max facility in Kokstad.
Bester seeks an immediate transfer back to Gauteng and not specifically to the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre.
He is also appealing that the Department of Correctional Services be interdicted and restricted from transferring him back to eBongweni Super Maximum Correctional Facility for the duration of his criminal case.
The application is set to be heard next Tuesday.
Correctional Services commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale said the move followed safety and security risk assessments and forms part of routine inmate transfers.
However, Bester argues that the distance hinders access to his legal team.
Bester infamously escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Facility in 2022 and was re-arrested in Tanzania along with co-accused Nandipha Magudumana.
Thobakgale also explained that risk assessments showed that Bester, along with fellow inmate Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala, posed serious threats at their previous facilities.
He confirmed that the department is engaging with Matlala’s lawyers, the NPA, and the courts to ensure he attends court hearings.
“Matlala was in court last week. He appeared on time, consulted with his lawyers, and the primary objective is to ensure he remains available for court proceedings.”
“If we do not exercise our responsibilities as a security department, there could be consequences. That is why we implement these security measures,” he said.
His lawyer, Anneline van den Heever, said accessing her client at eBongweni, located in Kokstad, had become “a nightmare,” severely hampering trial preparation.
She described the facility as confining inmates to their cells for 23 hours a day, with only one hour for exercise.
Matlala faces 11 counts of attempted murder, linked to the 2023 shooting of actress and socialite Tebogo Thobejane on the N1 highway near Sandton, as well as other attempted murders targeting high-profile figures.