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‘I was on holiday’: Thabo Bester says of Tanzania arrest [watch]

· The South African

A Louis Vuitton-clad Thabo Bester has brazenly claimed that he was in Tanzania on holiday when he was arrested, alongside his rumoured romantic partner, Nandipha Magudumana, in 2023.

The convicted rapist, murderer, and fraudster appeared in the Johannesburg  High Court on Tuesday, 24 March. During it, he challenged, amongst other things, his transfer to the eBongweni Super Maximum Correctional Facility in  KwaZulu-Natal.

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Bester, alongside several others, is also facing charges of his 2022 prison escape – which he has also disputed – as well as defeating the ends of justice, and violating multiple bodies.

The trial is expected to comment in July.

THABO BESTER ON ‘LAWFUL’ PRISON RELEASE, TANZANIA ‘HOLIDAY’

Appearing in the Johannesburg High Court, Thabo Bester challenged charges relating to his 2022 prison escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre.

At the time, Bester was serving two concurrent life sentences for multiple counts of rape and the 2011 murder of his girlfriend Nomfundo Tyhulu.

Representing himself, Bester claimed he could prove that he had been lawfully released from prison and had not escaped. Bester has argued about being reclassified as an awaiting-trial prisoner, which he believes would offer him better opportunities to prepare his defence.

He said: “The challenge is that the sentence I am serving is itself in question. A court could find that I have been serving it unlawfully and that I was, in fact, lawfully released.”

He added, “The escape is not a typical escape where a person broke out of a wall and jumped; it’s a situation where somebody has been out for a very long time, and then they decide that this person escaped.”

Thabo Bester continued with a long-winded rant about his constitutional rights being violated.

He also questioned his recent transfer to eBongweni C-Max in KZN, the home to many serious and violent offenders. He bemoaned being kept in solitary confinement for the last three years.

Speaking to eNCA outside the courtroom, Thabo Bester laughed as he claimed that he had been on holiday in Tanzania when he was arrested in 2023. He also claimed he could provide evidence before parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee regarding “certain executives”.

SERVING LOOKS IN LOUIS VUITTON

On social media, Thabo Bester’s legal rant – and his designer clothes – were a trending topic.

The 39-year-old wore a black suit with a matching monogrammed Louis Vuitton buttoned-down silk shirt.

MORE DELAY FOR THABO BESTER TRIAL

Meanwhile, Thabo Bester and his co-accused’s trial relating to his prison escape is scheduled to take place in the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein from 20 July to 18 September 2026.

However, Bester has multiple pending cases relating to his arrest, which could possibly delay the start of the trial.

They include:

  • Complaints about his detention and having to communicate telephonically with his legal representative
  • Complaints over his classification as a sentenced inmate and not an awaiting trial prisoner
  • Challenging his transfer to the eBongweni Super-Max Correctional Facility.
  • A bid to declare his 2023 arrest in Tanzania – after fleeing South Africa – as unlawful.
  • A bid to access classified documents and telephonic records relating to the presidency and International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola.
  • Demanding that his bank accounts be unfrozen to make cash available to himself
  • Demanding access to a laptop to prepare for his trial

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