Four of five accused in Thabo Bester matter denied bail
Investigating officer says release could cause unrest
Four of the five accused in the Thabo Bester matter were yesterday denied bail by the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court.
Senohe Matsoara, Teboho Lipholo, Buti Masukela and Tieho Frans Makhotsa were denied bail by magistrate Mohlolo Khabisi.
Natassja Jansen was granted R10,000 bail with conditions.
Denying the four bail, Khabisi said: “The interests of justice do not permit the release of applicants number 1, 2 and 3 and 4 on bail and as such bail is denied.
“As for accused number 8 [Jansen], I intend not to waste time as to her position. The state’s case against accused number 8 is porous and the personal circumstances before me in relation to accused number 8 serve as an open ... [reason] to permit bail.”
The five, and Bester’s partner Dr Nandipha Magudumana, are accused of assisting the escape of the rapist and murderer from Mangaung Correctional Centre in May last year.
A lawyer for Masukela told the court during the bail application that his client was not involved in the crime. “My client wasn’t paid any monies. He received no cent. No money was transferred into his account. He didn’t benefit anything and knew nothing about this,” Masilo Koenana said.
Matsoara’s attorney also denied his client received money from Bester.
An investigating officer who is part of a team investigating Bester’s escape and may not be named, urged the court not to grant the accused bail due to the seriousness of their alleged offences.
He said their release could lead to unrest.
Magudumana was initially among the group applying for bail but halted her application and instead filed an urgent application to the high court in Bloemfontein, seeking to declare her arrest and detention wrongful and unlawful.
Magudumana was arrested in April in Tanzania with Bester. She has been in custody since.
In her court papers, she said police had no court order with them that warranted her transportation from Tanzania to SA and no warrant for her arrest was issued.
She wants the court to nullify and set aside the criminal proceedings before the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court.
She also wants the court to declare she is entitled to be released from prison.
The matter was postponed to June 20. – TimesLIVE