Bester’s bid to be moved back to Gauteng prison struck off the roll


An urgent application by convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester to be moved back to a prison in Gauteng has been struck off the roll by the High Court in Pretoria.

Bester is currently being held at the eBongweni Super Maximum Correctional facility in KwaZulu-Natal after being transferred from Kgosi Mampuru Prison in Pretoria, without any notice.

Following this move, he took to the courts on the basis that he is facing difficulties consulting with his legal team and that his transfer was unlawful.

In her ruling, Judge Elizabeth Kubushi ordered that the application be struck off the role due to it not being properly enrolled by Bester’s attorneys.

“There is, therefore, no reason mentioned in this founding affidavit why this matter was set down on such stringent timeframes without giving the respondent adequate time to file their answering affidavits. I am thus not persuaded that this matter is so urgent … the matter is to be struck off the roll because it was not properly enrolled and the applicant is at liberty to enrol it properly for the next urgent court roll.”