The state has withdrawn charges against three of Thabo Bester's co-accused. On Wednesday (10/11) state prosecutor Amanda Bester told Acting Chief Magistrate Estelle de Lange charges will be dropped against accused 7 Nastassja Jansen, accused 10 Thabang Meir, and accused 12 Moeketsi Ramolula. Bester did not provide clarity on why the state has withdrawn its case against them. 

The former G4S operator Jansen and the suspended G4S officials were charged with aiding and abetting Bester to escape from lawful custody at the Mangaung Prison Centre under the guard of G4S.

Teiho Flyman, state witness and also a police officer attached to the provincial organised crime unit, previously testified that during the escape, Bester was handed a G4S uniform and walked out of the prison premises with accused 3, Tebogo Lipholo.

Bester used Katlego Bereng's body as a decoy to escape from lawful custody where he was serving a jail sentence for murder, rape, and robbery.  

Lipholo was allegedly promised R2,5 million by accused 1 Senohe 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.

Thabo Bester's co-accused appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court. Photo: Kekeletso Mosebetsi

Matsoara gained entry to the premises with Bereng's body without being searched. Later it was placed in cell 35 by him and Lipholo before it was burned. Twelve people were arrested for allegedly aiding Bester to escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre on 3 May 2022.

The accused, including Nandipha Magudumana's father Zolile Sekeleni, Matsoara, Lipholo, Makhotsa, Mier, and Makhetha have all been granted R10,000 bail.

Dr Nandipha Magudumana reportedly collapsed in the police holding cells at Parkroad Police station in Bloemfontein ahead of her court appearance later this morning. https://t.co/izEagiLLR8

— SABC News (@SABCNews) October 11, 2023

Bester and Magudumana were arrested in Tanzania. It's said that after Bester escaped from G4S, he had a lavish lifestyle in Johannesburg. But after being re-arrested in Tanzania, he and his girlfriend were brought back to South Africa.

Bester was sent to the Kgosi Mampuru Maximum Correctional Centre, while Magudumana was brought to Bloemfontein where she appeared in court on 13 April 2023. She remains in custody in Kroonstad. Her bail application was denied by Magistrate de Lange on 11 September. De Lange said Magudumana was a flight risk and she could orchestrate another Bester escape.

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