'My life is in danger', Thabo Bester tells court
Convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester on Wednesday told a court that he is being treated like an apartheid-era prisoner.
Bester and his co-accused appeared in the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein for a pre-trial hearing.
During his last court appearance in March, Bester’s pre-trial hearing was postponed following a change in legal representation.
Bester is on trial for escaping from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022.
Katlego Bereng's body was allegedly used as a decoy after it was snuck into the privately run facility and then later set alight in Bester's cell.
This left the impression that Bester died in the fire.
He was re-captured, along with his girlfriend, Dr Nandipha Magudumana, in Tanzania in April 2023.
“I’m having a challenge with being able to have a client-based consultation of confidentiality,” Bester told the court.
“This means that our conversation is done through a telephonic phone, and that phone apparently records every conversation that we have. It’s previously been proven that it’s been used to access information from consultations.”
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Bester told the court that he has not had any human contact for the past 15 months.
"I am under section 29 of the apartheid government. That is how I am treated in this current constitutional and free country. I am treated with two hours of family visits for 30 minutes.
"I am given one consultation or two if I am lucky, and, in that process, I am kept in a hole by myself with no one outside. They have removed the people that were outside my door.
"I feel that my life is in danger because the people that are responsible for this charge, I am under their hands. How can I then be freely able to defend myself, your Honour, if the court is not able to give me an ear in whatever issues I may have?"
"I have two months left in the time period that I have to serve in C-Max, but I know for a fact that I will not be treated fairly and released as anyone else because there is a time period that you serve in prison, like that. There is no human right in that prison."
"If I don't speak up for myself, who is going to do that for me? I am nearly done with my sentence, your Honour. I want to finish with this matter".
Bester's legal representative, Advocate Mohammed Seedat, told the court on Wednesday that he had withdrawn from the case.
"After consulting with my client, we believe it’s in his best interest for him to procure legal representation, either from Johannesburg or Pretoria, as it will be easier for them to have access to him on a regular basis compared to us from Bloemfontein travelling to Pretoria. For those reasons, your Worship, I withdraw as the attorney on record."
