The bail hearing for five of the eight accused in the Thabo Bester matter continued in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Friday. Legal representatives for the accused continued cross-examining the state’s witness, Lieutenant-Colonel Teboho Flyman. The defence took the opportunity to challenge the charges brought against the accused and to dispute some of Flyman’s arguments for why the accused should not be granted bail.
Suspended G4S staff member Motenyani Masukela is alleged to have been at the prison gate when the decoy body was brought to the prison. His lawyer Masilo Koenane challenged whether there was sufficient evidence to charge Masukela with being involved in claiming the body that ended up in Bester’s cell.
Koenane said that because Masukela only reported for duty at 07:45 on 3 May, he could not have been involved in starting the fire earlier that morning. Flyman said witness statements suggest that Masukela’s involvement was to do with allowing the vehicle through the prison gates despite his supervisor telling him not to do so. Magistrate Mo Advocate Kagisho Moruri, for Tieho Makhotsa, a G4S employee who was in the Central Control Room at the prison on the night of the escape, asked whether Makhotsa had made any threats to potential witnesses. Gary Botha, representing former G4S employee Natassja Jansen, asked Flyman to confirm that Jansen does not have a history of violence, does not have a passport, and that she gave her full cooperation to the police during the investigation. Flyman confirmed that Jansen does not have a history of violence, does not have a passport, and she gave her full cooperation to the police during the investigation.
Botha asked Flyman if he had any proof that Jansen was involved in claiming the body from the state morgue, smuggling it into the prison, or setting a fire in the cell. Flyman replied that it would have been the person working in the Central Control Room who had opened the door for Thabo Bester to leave the prison. The hearing will resume on 23 May for closing arguments.
This article is originally published by groundup.org.za under Thabo Bester's Escape updates.
