Bester, Magudumana and co-accused due back in court on Wednesday

JOHANNESBURG - Convicted killer and rapist, Thabo Bester, together with his accomplice, disgraced doctor, Nandipha Magudumana, will return to the Bloemfontein High Court on Wednesday morning.

Bester, Magudumana and seven others are accused of facilitating his brazen escape from the Mangaung correctional facility, where he was serving a life sentence in May 2022.

Among the accused are Magudumana’s father, Zolile Sekeleni, and some prison staff.

Both Bester and Magudumana were arrested while on the run in Tanzania last year.

The last time Bester was in court, his pre-trial hearing was stalled by his move to change lawyers.

The State, which was eager to proceed, asked that the defence disclose whether they had been paid by Bester in order to establish their commitment to the case.

The convict has been through at least three legal representatives since his recapture in Tanzania, at some point even promising to secure the services of prominent advocates, Dali Mpofu and Zandile Mshololo.

The State has projected that Bester's prison escape trial would run for at least six months because almost all the State's evidence was in dispute.

The accused face several charges, including fraud, assisting in a prison escape and tampering with a corpse.