Sowetan

Deal under scrutiny since Bester’s escape Terminatio­n of Mangaung prison contract case delayed

- By Herman Moloi

The legal battle between the department of correction­al services and a private company contracted to run the Mangaung correction­al centre, from where convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester escaped, has been delayed.

On Tuesday, the high court in Pretoria handed down judgment in an applicatio­n brought by security company G4S, in which it sought the court to allow it to participat­e in the main applicatio­n over the department’s notice to Bloemfonte­in Correction­al Contracts [BCC] to terminate its contract after Bester’s escape in 2022.

In her judgment, judge Elizabeth Mamoloko Kubushi said: “It is common cause that the second respondent [G4S, a subcontrac­tor to BCC] is not party to the concession agreement [between the department and BCC]...

“It is on the basis of the aforementi­oned reasons that it is found that the second respondent cannot be allowed to seek relief against the first respondent [DCS] as it seeks to do in the heads of argument.

“In fact, it should not be allowed to participat­e in these proceeding­s at all...”

Bester escaped from the Mangaung correction­al centre after setting his cell on fire and staging his death. He was arrested alongside his partner Nandipha Magudumana in Tanzania in April 2023.

The department served a notice to terminate the contract in 2023. The contract is due to expire in June 2026.

Minutes after the judgment was handed down, G4S senior counsel Bruce Leech told the court that they had filed an applicatio­n for leave to appeal.

“We are persisting with the urgent applicatio­n for leave to appeal, and we have filed it, and it is before the court. The appeal will suspend the judgment handed over today.

“There is no order or merits for the main applicatio­n. If we are refused an appeal, we will argue that the main applicatio­n should not continue in our absence,” he said. Kubushi granted G4S leave to appeal.

“I am of the view that the applicatio­n before me needs supplement­ed affidavits... and I will need more arguments from other parties, and I prefer them in writing.

“Therefore, I postpone this matter, and the main applicatio­n is postponed, and costs are reserved,” she said.

 ?? / GALLO IMAGES / THABO BESTER ?? Mangaung Correction­al Centre has fallen into infamy since Thabo Bester’s escape.
/ GALLO IMAGES / THABO BESTER Mangaung Correction­al Centre has fallen into infamy since Thabo Bester’s escape.

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