Nine accused persons, including Thabo Bester, Nandipha Magudumana, and seven of their co-accused, arrived at the Free State High Court on Wednesday morning for a pretrial conference over allegations of rape and murderer.
In February, the matter was postponed due to changes in legal representation for the group. Bester, Magudumana, Xando Moyo, Teboho Lipholo, James Lipholo, Buti Masukela, Teiho Makhotsa, Zolile Sekeleni, and Senohe Matsoara appeared in court.
Bester is accused of escaping prison, while the co-accused are charged with defeating the ends of justice and assisting an inmate in escaping custody.
Bester appointed advocate Mohamed Seedat as his new legal representative after his previous team withdrew from the proceedings.
Bester was previously arrested, charged, and sentenced for offering aspiring models fake modeling gigs using Facebook. He pleaded guilty to two rape charges and one murder charge, that of Nomfundo Tyhulu.
He faked his death and fled to Tanzania with Magudumana, allegedly with the help of the co-accused. This occurred after he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Before his arrest, the country’s prison officials released a statement saying Bester had died in his prison cell at the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein, run by G4S Security.
However, a thorough investigation by GroundUp revealed that Bester had been living the high life in Gauteng’s affluent area of Sandton.
Bester and Magudumana were brought back to South Africa, and investigations began.