Thabo Bester fails in bid to leave Kokstad supermax prison

Convicted murderer Thabo Bester will remain at the eBongweni Super Maximum Correctional Facility in Kokstad, KZN, after the Pretoria High Court struck his urgent application from the roll for lack of urgency. Bester had asked the court to urgently intervene and overturn the Department of Correctional Services’ decision to transfer him from Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre in Pretoria to the high-security facility in January. He wanted to be moved back to Pretoria, arguing that the transfer was affecting his ability to consult with his legal team ahead of his upcoming court proceedings.

However, Judge Elizabeth Mamoloko Kubushi ruled that Bester failed to demonstrate why the matter required urgent court intervention. “There is no cogent reason mentioned in the founding affidavit why this matter was set down on such stringent timeframes, without giving the respondents adequate time to file their answering affidavits,” Kubushi said. She added that the matter could instead be heard through the normal court process and did not justify urgent enrolment.

During proceedings, Bester’s lawyer, Advocate Mo Afrika Maile, argued that the move to eBongweni was hampering trial preparations and limiting access to consultations. The Department of Correctional Services opposed the application, with its legal representative Advocate Neil Snellenburg arguing that Bester had not complied with court rules and that the department should be granted time to respond fully. He also clarified that only a pre-trial conference, not the trial itself, is scheduled for March. Bester is serving a life sentence for the 2011 murder of his girlfriend, Nomfundo Thyulu.