There is a strong police contingent outside the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court ahead of the appearance of the four accused linked to the escape of convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester in May last year.
They include Bester’s girlfriend, Dr Nandipha Magudumana, her father Zolile Sekeleni, IT expert Teboho Lipholo and dismissed G4S employee, Senohe Matsoara.
They are expected to apply for bail.
All four accused appeared briefly last week and they are facing charges of aiding and abetting an escaped convict, defeating the ends of justice, murder, arson and fraud.
Magudumana is also facing an additional charge of violating a dead body.
SABC News Reporter Kamogelo Seekoei outlines more details on what’s expected ahead of their appearance:
Breakdown in operations
Meanwhile, the head of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services, retired Justice Edwin Cameron, says he believes the G4S security company has suffered a total breakdown in operational and oversight functions at the Mangaung Correctional Facility.
Cameron explains his reasons for leaking information to the media on Bester’s escape: “I asked the hands-on people, and there were three top Mangaung prison officials with us, was Bester a powerful guy inside the prison? They immediately said yes. They believed that he and Dr Magudumana were making a huge amount of money during lockdown, something like R20 million. So, it is a puzzle. I said to parliament that there must have been a total breakdown in all of the operational functions and line management and executive oversight of G4S, which is a terrible indictment of this whole company, not just locally but internationally.”
