By Marecia Damons.
The trial of convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester and his co-accused has been postponed to April 2027. This is nearly five years after his prison escape and four years after he was rearrested.
Bester is charged with escaping from Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022. Nandipha Magudumana and six others are accused of helping him.
On Friday, the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein set the trial to run from 19 April to 18 June 2027.
The matter has been postponed several times.
The trial was originally meant to start in February 2025 but was moved to November 2025 because all the accused had not confirmed their lawyers yet.
It was postponed again after Bester fired his legal team, and set down for 20 July 2026, before being moved again to 18 January 2027.
Advocate MoAfrika Wa Maila, for Bester, told the court his team had been unable to properly consult with Bester at eBongweni Super Maximum in Kokstad.
Wa Maila said they had been going back and forth with correctional services over the conditions for consulting with Bester and had requested a dedicated room.
“It will not be possible for us to have a productive consultation to say we are ready to proceed with the trial because the situation of consultation still remains the same,” he said.
When a trial date was proposed for January, Wa Maila said, “There is no way we could consult with him on this matter.”
Judge Mareena Opperman told Bester’s legal team to submit a substantive application, supported by an affidavit, for the court to consider. She suggested that Bester’s issues be dealt with separately at another case management hearing.
At the start of Friday’s hearing, Bester complained that officials had told him he could not wear a Polo T-shirt in court. Bester said, “They’re fighting that I am not allowed to wear this T-shirt with Polo [logo] on it. They wanted me to take off my clothes, and I must address the court naked.”
Opperman said these concerns needed to be formally placed on the court’s record.
Magudumana’s lawyer, advocate Machini Motloung, reminded the court about her pending Constitutional Court matter. She is challenging the lawfulness of her arrest in Tanzania and her return to South Africa in April 2023. She previously failed to convince the Supreme Court of Appeal and then approached the Constitutional Court. The matter was heard in May this year, but judgment was reserved.
Motloung also took issue with Magudumana appearing virtually, saying it made it difficult for her legal team to obtain urgent instructions during proceedings.
Magudumana is being held at Bizzah Makhate Correctional Centre in Kroonstad, which Motloung said was far from her legal team. He asked that she be permitted to appear in person.
Opperman said she understood the difficulty of obtaining urgent instructions if an issue arose during proceedings, but she said the court could not assist the lawyers to get to Kroonstad.
Opperman said Magudumana’s Constitutional Court issue could be dealt with separately through a further case management hearing, rather than delaying proceedings for all the accused.
The court extended bail for the other co-accused: Teboho James Lipholo, Senohe Matsoara, Zolile Cornelius Sekeleni, Tieho Frans Makhotsa and Joel Makhetha. Bester, Magudumana and Zanda Moyo, who was Magudumana’s gardener, remain in custody.
Bester and Magudumana will return to court for further case management hearings at a later date.