One of the three accused in the Thabo Bester prison break saga, Thabang Mier, has been granted bail. The three appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court in the Free State on Monday morning.
Mier has been granted bail of R10 000. Mier, Joel Makhetha and Moeketsi Ramolula are facing charges of aiding and abetting an inmate to escape from lawful custody.
The charges against Makhetha and Moeketsi include corruption and violating a corpse. The two will be back in court on Tuesday next week for bail application while Mier will appear alongside Bester, Dr Nandipha Magudumana and others on the August 8.
The G4S employees were arrested on Monday last week.
Three more suspects in Thabo Bester escape appear in Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court:
Currently, a total of 12 people have been arrested in the Bester escape matter.
Seven are former and current G4S employees at the prison where Bester was incarcerated before his escape in May last year.
Bester’s girlfriend Magudumana and her father Zolile Sekeleni are also facing charges.
Zanda Moyo stands accused of assisting Magudumana to claim Katlego Bereng’s body from the Bloemfontein government mortuary, under the pretext of being his brother.
Bereng’s body was used as a decoy in Bester’s fake suicide escape plot.
Senohe Matsoara, Teboho Lipholo and Tieho Makhotsa, who were denied bail, approached the Free State High Court to appeal the outcome.
Motanyane Masukela has not appealed the bail outcome.
Sekeleni and Nastassja Jansen are both free on R10 000 bail, while Magudumana and Moyo have suspended their bail applications.
THABO BESTER by SABC Digital News
