DCS denies keeping Thabo Bester in solitary confinement
One of Thabo Bester's complaints was that he was being kept in solitary confinement at the Kgosi Mampuru C-max Prison, being afforded only one hour for exercise.
Convicted killer and rapist Thabo Bester in the Bloemfontein High Court on 24 July 2024. Picture: Katlego Jiyane/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - The Department of Correctional Services has denied keeping convicted killer and rapist, Thabo Bester, in solitary confinement at the Kgosi Mampuru C-max facility.
The department has dismissed several assertions made by Bester about his imprisonment.
On Wednesday, Bester’s lawyer tried to make arguments challenging the conditions of his detention, but Judge Cagney Musi refused to hear the application, describing it as half-baked and unripe.
One of Bester's complaints was that he was being kept in solitary confinement at the Kgosi Mampuru C-max Prison, being afforded only one hour for exercise.
But Correctional Services said that the section where Bester was being kept only had single cells and so Bester's claims were disingenuous.
Bester also wants to be able to consult with his lawyers for seven hours and have access to a laptop or a tablet.
The department said that his demand for lengthy consultations were neither reasonable nor practical and his request for gadgets would pose a security risk and might enable him to orchestrate another escape.
Meanwhile, in the Free State High Court on Wednesday, Judge Cagney Musi refused to hear Bester’s application, poking holes in it and criticising its contents.
His lawyer, Advocate Lerato Moela was instructed to draft answering papers to the responses by Correctional Services and others and a date will be set for the formal application to be heard in the civil courts.