Thabo Bester’s urgent bid to return to Gauteng denied by High Court

Thabo Bester’s challenge against his move from Pretoria to eBongweni Super Maximum Correctional Facility in KwaZulu-Natal was struck from the court roll. Thabo Bester will have to remain at eBongweni Super Maximum Correctional facility in KwaZulu-Natal – at least for now – after the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria struck his urgent bid to be moved back to Gauteng from the roll. Judge Elizabeth Kubushi found his “extremely urgent” application not to be so urgent astonot afford Correctional Services time to reply to it.

She also found that it was not properly enrolled.She said there is nothing barring Bester to again enroll the matter if he so wished. She also found that it was not properly enrolled. She said there is nothing barring Bester to again enroll the matter if he so wished.

The court did not deal with the merits of his application, as the question of urgency was argued first. Advocate Neil Snellenburg SC for the department asked the court to either strike the matter from the roll or, alternatively, afford the department time to answer the allegations made against it by Bester. He argued that Bester’s legal team only gave the department one day to note its opposition to the urgent application and one day to file court papers.But Bester’s counsel, lawyer Benjamin Moafrika wa Maila, argued about his client’s Constitutional rights which have been infringed by his “secret, in the middle of the night” move to Kokstad’s super prison on February 5, which he said made the matter urgent.

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He argued that Bester’s legal team only gave the department one day to note its opposition to the urgent application and one day to file court papers. But Bester’s counsel, lawyer Benjamin Moafrika wa Maila, argued about his client’s Constitutional rights which have been infringed by his “secret, in the middle of the night” move to Kokstad’s super prison on February 5, which he said made the matter urgent. He pointed out that days after the move, Bester was due to argue an urgent application before the Bloemfontein High Court regarding his conditions of incarceration at Kgosi Mampuru Prison’s C-Max, and the fact that he cannot prepare for his criminal trial while in that prison.

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