Zanda Moyo (31) appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on Tuesday. 

ALSO READ: Thabo Bester escape: Man arrested helped to fraudulently claim the body

Moyo, who allegedly aided Nandipa Magudumana to claim Katlego Bereng's body from the National Hospital in Bloemfontein, has been slapped with several charges. The charges include violating the dead body of Bereng, fraud, aiding and abetting a prisoner to escape from prison, and harbouring and concealing an escaped offender. 

He has since requested to have an Isindebele court interpreter. Moyo was arrested on Sunday 11 June 2023 in Johannesburg as the ninth suspect in the Bester escape case. Moyo will be remanded in custody until 20 June 2023 when all the suspects appear in court.

Moyo and Magudumana allegedly lied to officials that Bereng was his brother Themba Moyo from Zimbabwe, who was a taxi driver. Bereng's body was later found in Cell 35 in the Mangaung Correctional Centre. The body was burnt beyond recognition and had blunt force trauma. It was used as a decoy for Bester to escape on 3 May 2022. Moyo will appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court and face charges of aiding and abetting Bester to escape.

Tieho Flyman, who was the state witness during bail proceedings, said Bereng's body was placed in a trolley dustbin before it was taken to Bester's cell. 

The body was allegedly brought inside the premises of the prison on 29 April 2022 by accused 1, Seneho Matsoara, whilst driving a hired vehicle by accused 2, Zolile Sekeleni, who is the father of accused 4, Magudumana.  

Matsoara gained entry to the premises with Bereng's body without being searched. Later it was placed in cell 35 by him and Lipholo.

The witness says during the escape Bester was handed a G4S uniform and he walked out of the prison premises with accused 3, Teboho James Lipholo.

Lipholo was allegedly promised R2,5 million by Matsoara but he only received R40 000, with R30 000 paid to the bank account of his wife in April 2022, and R10 000 into his account in May 2022, by Matsoara.

“The dead body was taken to the Thusanong mortuary for the preparation of the burial and the funeral was held in phase two where Matsoara got the body from,” the witness told the court.

He also revealed during his testimony at this bail hearing that Bereng's body, which was claimed by Magudumana, was never buried or inside the casket, the police found three bags of 10 kg maize flour.

Moyo was arrested on Sunday morning in Johannesburg. So far nine people have been arrested in this case and only two are out on bail of R10 000.  

On 29 May 2023 the Bloemfontein Magistrate, Mohlolo Khabisi, denied bail for four of the five suspects linked to the escape of  Bester.

ALSO READ – Breaking News: Four of Bester's co-accused denied bail – VIDEO

Khabisi denied accused 1 Senohe Matsoara, accused 3 Teboho James Lipholo, accused 6 Motanyane John Masukela and accused 7 Tieho Frans Makhotsa bail. The case was postponed to 20 June 2023 for further investigations and the other co- accused's appearance.

Some of the accused, including Matsoara, have been in custody for over 50 days since their arrest in April 2023. They are accused of aiding the convicted Facebook rapist and murder convict to escape from lawful custody under the guard of G4S.

They face several charges including aiding and abetting the escape of a prisoner, defeating the ends of justice, arson and violating a corpse.

During the testimony of  Flyman from the SAPS's provincial organised unit said Matsoara and Lipholo are said to have placed the body of Bereng inside cell 35.

The deceased's body was allegedly claimed by Bester's girlfriend Magudumana from the National Hospital's mortuary for a fake funeral in Phase 2 in Bloemfontein, where Matsoara got hold of Bereng's body and took it inside the premises of G4S on 29 April.

It's alleged that accused 6, Masukela, who was on duty at the gate that day, failed to search Matsoara's vehicle which had a television cabinet, behind which Bereng's body was hidden in a bag. He allegedly assisted Matsoara to offload the body and place it inside a workshop.

The other two accused, Jansen and Makhotsa, who were operators in the control room, were also implicated in not following procedure.

“The dead body was [allegedly] taken to the Thusanong mortuary for the preparation of the burial and the staged funeral was held in phase two where Matsoara got the body from,” the witness told the court.

On Friday,12 May 2023, the witness said Bester paid Matsoara R150 000 whilst Matsoara himself further paid accused 3, Teboho James Lipholo and accused 7 Tieho Makhotsa, R40 000 and R14 000 respectively.

Flyman said Bester was given a G4S uniform and walked out of the G4S prison in the early hours of 3 May 2022 with Integriton technician Lipholo. 

Bester allegedly lived in luxury in Johannesburg. He was arrested in Tanzania along with Magudumana. They were brought back to South Africa on 13 April 2023.

Magudumana was transferred to the Free State where she made her first appearance at the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court. She was remanded in court and has been in custody ever since.

Magudumana has reserved her right to bail application. She has since re-applied to Free State High Court to appeal Judge Philip Loubser's verdict which dismissed her case over her alleged unlawful and unconstitutional arrest.

ALSO READ: High Court bid of Thabo Bester's girlfriend unsuccessful

Seven officials linked to the Bester escape have been suspended. It's understood that 23 officials were on duty at the time of Bester's escape.

OFM News