Thabo Bester's application for access to laptop & modem struck off court roll

JOHANNESBURG - The Pretoria High Court has ruled that Thabo Bester’s application for access to the internet was demonstrably lacking urgency.

The court has struck Bester's application off the urgent court roll.

The convicted killer and rapist told the court that he wanted access to a laptop and an internet modem to prepare for his prison break case that’s being heard in the Bloemfontein High Court.

On Tuesday morning, Bester, who was self-represented, jumped right into his arguments on why he needed access to the laptop and internet from his C-Max prison cell at the Kgosi Mampuru Prison.

But the court first required him to make submissions on why his matter should be heard urgently.

After the court gave him the option to choose how long he would need to prepare those submissions, he said he only needed two hours and then followed through with this argument.

"Through court submissions and understanding, I feel that it's already giving me the impression that I am pre-judged because I am Thabo Bester. The facts before the court speak for itself. I am not asking the court for anything. I have stated that in numerous countries there were law libraries that had access to printing these documents but C-Max does not have that resource."

But after lawyers representing the Department of Correctional Services opposed this application, the court struck the matter off the urgent court roll for lack of urgency.