FOUR OF THE FIVE ACCUSED IN THE THABO BESTER CASE WERE DENIED BAIL

FOUR OF THE FIVE ACCUSED IN THE THABO BESTER CASE WERE DENIED BAIL

Four of the five people accused of being involved in assisting Thabo Bester to escape from Mangaung Correctional Centre, have been denied bail by the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court. Magistrate Mohlolo Khabisi denied Senohe Matsoara, Teboho Lipholo, Motanyane Masukela and Tieho Makhotsa bail after they failed to convince the court that it would be in the best interest of justice for them to be released.

A decision was handed down on Monday in the bail hearing for five of the eight accused in the Thabo Bester saga. Prison wardens Senohe Matsoara, Motenyani Masukela and Tieho Makhotsa, and CCTV technician Teboho Lipholo were denied bail. Former prison warden Nastassja Jansen was granted R10,000 bail.

The fifth accused, Nastassja Jansen was released on bail of R10 000, and conditions that were attached to her release are: she must report to the Heidedal Police Station every Friday, and she must not interfere with the investigations.

The accused are facing charges that include assisting an inmate to escape, defeating the ends of justice, arson, fraud and corruption. It is alleged that they were involved in assisting Thabo Bester to escape from Mangaung Correctional Centre on 03 May 2022.

Matsoara, Masukela, Makhotsa and Jansen were employees of Mangaung Correctional Centre and Lipholo was a CCV technician for Integriton, a company contracted to G4S.

The case against the five accused was postponed to 20 June 2023 for further investigations. They will, on that day, appear together with Nandipha Magudumana and Thabo Bester who did not apply for bail.