By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
A verdict on the bail application of the five accused of helping convicted murder accused and rapist Thabo Bester in prison was handed down in the Bloemfotein Magistrate court.
The accused, Senohe Matsoara, Motenyani Masukela,Tieho Makhotsa, Natassja Jansen and CCTV technician Teboho Lipholo are charged with aiding and abetting Bester appeared in court.
The accused are facing schedule 5 charges of arson, fraud, defeating the ends of justice and aiding and abetting an inmate.
Last week, the legal representative for accused number eight requested the court to grant his client Jansen bail, as she is the mother of two young girls.
Lawyer Gary Botha, representing the former G4S employee accused of electronically closing and opening certain doors on the day of Bester’s escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre, argued that Jansen is the primary caregiver to her two children.
“I ask the court to grant applicant number five bail. She has two children and her personal circumstances are that she has daughters of 16 and 7 years and she’s the only primary caregiver. The fathers are contributing financially but the mother is the sole parent that raised these children. If she is not granted bail what would happen to her children?”
Botha also argued that Jansen has not been charged for the murder of Katlego Bereng, whose charred body was found in Bester’s cell in May last year.
Magistrate Mohlolo Khabisi explained that with Schedule 5 offences, the onus rests on the bail applicant to provide evidence that they should be released on bail. For Schedule 1 offences, the onus lies with the state to prove that the applicant should not be released on bail.
Khabisi found that Matsoara, Makhotsa, Masukela and Lipholo did not provide sufficient evidence to satisfy the court that they will not interfere with state witnesses.
But Khabisi said that the state’s case against Jansen is “porous” and that the state did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the interest of justice would not be served if bail was granted. Jansen was granted R10,000 bail and has to report to a local police station every Friday. She is not allowed to contact state witnesses or the investigating officers.
According to the state’s witness during the bail hearings, investigating officer Tieho Flyman, the accused were all involved with helping Bester escape.
Matsoara was a supervisor on duty in the area of the prison where Bester was being held. He is accused of bringing a decoy body into the prison cell, starting the fire, and helping Bester leave the prison. He faces 13 charges.
Lipholo, a CCTV technician, is accused of cutting power to the CCTV cameras on the night of the fire and placing the bag with the decoy body in a wheelie bin and wheeling it into the prison. He faces ten charges, including fraud and arson.
Masukela, who is accused of letting the vehicle carrying the decoy body into the prison complex, faces five charges. Makhotsa and Jansen were both in the central control room on the night of the fire and are accused of opening the doors for Bester.
Zolile Sekeleni, father to Nandipha Magudumana, is currently out on bail. He is accused of hiring the vehicle used to drive the body into the prison. Nandipha Magudumana and Thabo Bester are still in custody, having withdrawn their bail applications.
The criminal trial against the accused will start on 20 June.
Watch Live in the video below:
Video Courtesy of SABC.