CONVICTED rapist and murderer Thabo Bester has asked the Free State High Court to allow the public to sign a petition for him to be granted a death sentence and release his co-accused who he claims had nothing to do with his escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022.
“This is not the way that I want to proceed, if it means that this court will accept the petition and the public can sign it so that I can be put to rest,” Bester told the court in Bloemfontein on Wednesday.
Bester was defending himself in court after his attorney, Mohammed Seedat, withdrew as legal representative on the grounds of logistic problems.
“After consulting my client we believe that it is best in his interest for him to procure legal representation from either Johannesburg or Pretoria where such legal representatives — it will be easier for them to have access to him regularly,” Seedat said.
Other lawyers, including advocates Dali Mpofu and Zandile Msholo, have also withdrawn as Bester’s legal representatives since he was re-apprehended in April 2023.
With notes in hand on Wednesday, Bester cited sections of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in his defence. He claimed that the correctional services system has been working against him to convict him of a crime based on political interference and media influence.
“I feel that my confidentiality of consultation is being compromised because they [correctional services] have a direct interest, I cannot be able to divulge certain information on the alleged escape because I do not believe there was an escape but whatever the facts are, I can’t consult with any attorney that comes to C-max [prison],” he said.
The convicted rapist and murder argued that the media’s portrayal of him as a criminal had affected his ability to appoint legal representation.
“It is very difficult for me to appoint an attorney — the attorney cancels [the] brief because they don’t want to be associated with Thabo Bester because they say the media will attack them and the state will never give them any work,” Bester said.
Responding to Bester’s arguments, the judge asked that he get legal representation and bring forward applications to support his claims.
Bester, along with his co-accused Nandipha Magudumana, Zolile Sekeleni, Xando Moyo, Teboho Lipholo, Buti Masukela, Teiho Makhotsa, Senohe Matsoara and James Lipholo appeared for the first time in the Free State High Court for a pre-trial hearing. The co-accused allegedly assisted Bester in his 2022 prison escape.
Bester, Magudumana and Moyo remain in custody while the rest are out on bail of R10 000 each. The case will be back in the Free State high court on 24 July.
Bester was sentenced in 2012 to life imprisonment. He was given 25 years in jail for the murder of his then-girlfriend, Johannesburg car saleswoman Nomfundo Tyhulu, and for armed robbery related to possessions he took from Tyhulu after killing her. He was also dubbed the “Facebook rapist” because he used social media to lure women and rape them.
In Wednesday’s court appearance Bester claimed that he was coerced into confessing to Tyhulu’s murder. – Mail & Guardian
