Four of the five accused in the Thabo Bester case were denied bail

29 May 2023

Four of the five people accused of being involved in assisting Thabo Bester to escape from Mangaung Correctional Centre, have been denied bail by the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court earlier today. Magistrate Mohlolo Khabisi denied Senohe Matsoara, Teboho Lipholo, Motanyane Masukela and Tieho Makhotsa bail, after they failed to convince the court that it would be in the best interest of justice for them to be released. The fifth accused Nastassja Jansen was released on bail of R10 000, and conditions attached to her release are that: she must report to the Heidedal Police Station every Friday, and she must not interfere with the investigations.

The accused are facing a total of 16 charges, that include assisting an inmate to escape, defeating the ends of justice, arson, fraud, and corruption. It is alleged that they were involved in assisting Thabo Bester, to escape from Mangaung Correctional Centre on 03 May 2023. Matsoara, Masukela, Makhotsa and Jansen were employees of Mangaung Correctional Centre and Lipholo was a CCV technician for Integriton, a company contracted to G4S.

The case against the five accused was postponed to 20 June 2023, for further investigations. They will, on that day, appear together with Nandipha Magudumana and Thabo Bester, who did not apply for bail.

Issued by Phaladi Shuping, Regional Spokesperson: Free State Division, 29 May 2023