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Thabo Bester during a court appearance.
Convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester wants the High Court in Pretoria to declare the Department of Correctional Services decision to transfer him from Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre to one of the country’s tightest prisons, eBongweni in Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal, unconstitutional and invalid.
He is set to challenge his prison transfer in the Pretoria High Court next week, after he was moved from the Kgosi Mampuru maximum security facility in Pretoria to the eBongweni Super Maximum Security Correctional Centre in Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal.
The Department of Correctional Services confirmed that Bester was moved, saying the said offender transfer was guided by security risk assessments.
Bester’s lawyers claim they were not informed of his transfer.
They want Bester to be returned to any correctional centre in Gauteng for the duration of his current escape trial in Bloemfontein.
One of his lawyers, Courage Morero says Bester’s sudden transfer has restricted consultation with their client and therefore prejudiced his right to a fair trial.
“Since he was transferred, we’ve only spoken to Mr. Bester twice, and in both those times, it was telephonically, and it was less than 10 minutes combined. Before he was moved, he was able to make phone calls to his legal representatives to follow up on his outstanding cases to give instructions. That is not possible anymore. The legal team is based in Gauteng, eBongweni is in KZN. It’s more than 750kms away from his legal team,” says Morero.
Earlier, the Department of Correctional Services indicated that all transfers were done based on risk assessments or analysis.
The Department’s National Commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale says, “The two inmates were transferred to Kokstad because of a security and threat analysis that was conducted by our security officials. Process to get the transfers approved were then out in place, the transfers were approved and then they were taken to a facility that is safer than were they were at Kgosi Mampuru.”
The matter is expected to be heard in the High Court in Pretoria next week Tuesday.
