By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria dismissed convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester’s urgent application to gain access to a laptop for his deportation case.
Bester’s application was struck off the roll due to a lack of urgency.
He appeared in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday where he expressed the “need” to have a laptop in prison so he can prepare for his upcoming deportation case.
The judge told Bester she would not grant him access to a laptop, adding that his application was not urgent.
“You will get law books, they will give you access to all the information you need, but not a laptop. You don’t have a constitutional right to a laptop. Show me in the constitution where it says you have the right to access to a laptop,” said the judge.
Representing himself in court, Bester argued that he had a right to access to a laptop and electronic devices to prepare for his case.
He said the department of correctional services can monitor his internet use the same way it has been monitoring his movements.
“There are two highly trained EST members, supervising everything I do 24/7. I shower in a cage, I exercise in a cage. I am completely by myself. There is no way I can access anything without them next to me. There are cameras outside my door, “said Bester.
“I am the most guarded inmate in this country. It is highly impossible that correctional services would not be able to supervise the device and access.
“You can give me books and I can read them, but who will file my applications? I will have to depend on a third party to file my applications, “said Bester.
Advocate Mosioa Mazibuko, for the State, argued that Bester was able to file the application before the court and did not clarify the extent of assistance he received from family or other sources.
“The main application was filed without any problems. The applicant similarly was able to prepare and file the founding papers in the current application.
“He does not particularly explain how that happened, except making one statement that he has had to rely on family favours,” Mazibuko told the court.
Mazibuko submitted that where urgency was “self-created”, it should not be accepted on the court’s urgent roll.
In turning down his application for a lack of urgency, the judge pointed out that Bester is legally represented in both the criminal trial and his deportation application. She also said these cases are not yet off the ground.
Bester came back into the spotlight in May 2022 after he escaped the Mangaung prison following a fire. A charred body was found in his cell, and presumed to be that of Bester.
However, his plan backfired after he was spotted shopping at a Woolworths in Sandton City, nearly two months after his reported death at the prison.
It was later found that Bester had escaped the Free State prison and he had faked his own death.
Following his escape from jail on 3 May 2022, a manhunt was launched, which led to his arrest in Tanzania.
Bester wants to challenge his deportation from Tanzania.
It remains unclear which matter he was referring to as the only case set to be heard in relation to his and girlfriend Dr Nandipha Magudumana’s arrests and deportation from Tanzania is a Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) application brought by the latter.