CASE AGAINST TWO MEN LINKED TO BESTER’S ESCAPE POSTPONED TO MONDAY
The case against two men accused of being involved in the escape of Thabo Bester at Mangaung Correction Centre was postponed to Monday, 17 April 2023. Magistrate Mohlolo Khabisi postponed the case against Senohe Ishmael Matsoara (39) and Zolile Cornelius Sekeleni (65) for bail information and possible bail application, at the request of the state.
Matsoara and Sekeleni are facing charges of assisting an inmate to escape from lawful custody, defeating the ends of justice, fraud, murder and arson, relating to an incident that allegedly took place in the early hours of Tuesday, 03 May 2022.
It was alleged that Thabo Bester, who was serving life imprisonment, died in a cell at the maximum security prison, but the post-mortem done on the body concluded that it was not Bester who died in the cell. According to the post-mortem, the person died from unnatural causes (blunt trauma), which indicates that he was killed before he was burned, hence the state has levelled a charge of murder against the accused.
The bail information will assist the prosecution to decide whether they are grounds to oppose bail.
