By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Five people accused of helping convicted rapist and killer Thabo Bester escape from a maximum-security prison last year will remain behind bars after their bail hearing was postponed to 23 May for closing arguments.
Former G4S security guard Senohe Matsoara, his former colleagues John Masukela, Natassja Jansen, and Frans Makhotsa, as well as IT technician James Lipholo, appeared in Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday in their bid to be released on bail following their arrests in April and May.
The group, along with Bester’s accomplice Nandipha Magudumana and her father Cornelius Sekeleni, face charges ranging from aiding and abetting the escape of an inmate from lawful custody, fraud, and defeating the ends of justice among others.
They are accused of helping the convicted murderer and rapist fake his own death in an elaborate plan to escape from the privately run Mangaung Correctional facility.
Sekeleni is out on R10,000 bail, while Magudumana abandoned her bid for bail.
Bester remains under 24-hour guard at the Kgosi Mampuru Maximum Security Correctional Centre in Tshwane.
During the cross-examination of the investigating officer, Advocate Kagisho Moruri, who represents Makhotsa, put it to the colonel that he’s investigations failed to confirm that his client had a valid passport which expires next year.
He said Makhotsa had instructed him to hand the travel document over to the police for safekeeping.
“Do you believe that someone who intends to flee would hand over a passport knowing that the investigating officer does not know that he has one?”
Moruri earlier said at the trial stage of the case his client would be able to explain the R14,000 he allegedly received from Matsoara for his alleged role in the May 2022 prison break.
The officer has said he did not endorse the release of the accused on bail due to the public’s sentiment over the case, adding that their release could endanger their own safety and that of the public.
Meanwhile, Magudumana, her father Zolile Sekeleni and Bester will appear in court on 20 June.
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Video Courtesy of SABC.