2 years ago
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ARTICLE AD BOX
- The bail hearing for five people accused of helping Bester escape has been postponed until Friday.
- There was not enough time for the defence to cross-examine the witness.
- The defence for Senohe Matsoara and Teboho Lipholo were able to conclude on Tuesday.
Five people accused of aiding convicted rapist and killer Thabo Bester escape from prison must again wait to hear if they will get bail as the hearing was postponed for the third time on Tuesday.
The accused will be back in court on Friday.
The Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court must still hear three cross-examinations for the accused.
The accused are former G4S guards Senohe Matsoara, Motenyani Masukela, Tieho Makhotsa and Natassja Jansen, as well as former Integritron Integrated Solutions camera technician Teboho Lipholo.
The hearing began with a cross-examination of a witness by advocate Kagisho Moruri for accused one, Matsoara.
Moruri also represents Makhotsa.
The witness had pinpointed Matsoara as the one who had brought Katlego Bereng's body into the prison as a decoy for Bester.
He claimed the accused diverted correctional officers away from the block where Bester's cell was and that Matsoara had not helped extinguish the flames.
READ | 'Can the court prove this is Thabo Bester?' Attorney says there is not enough proof
He also claimed the accused had helped Bester out of the cell and out the prison gates.
The advocate said the accused would dispute everything the witness said.
But the witness, who cannot be named, responded that the evidence proved his testimony.
He further revealed that investigations show that the accused has links to gangs, which Moruri disputed.
The advocate then asked the witness if he understood that his client, as the breadwinner, would suffer a loss of income if he stayed in jail, which would be detrimental.
The witness replied that people should consider this before committing crime.
The advocate also disputed that the accused knew Bereng or that he ever had drinks with him. But the witness said the evidence showed that the two drank together in taverns.
READ | The hired car and the corpse: Witness tells court how Thabo Bester escaped
After careful calculations, the witness also conceded that Matsoara had gone to Lesotho four times and not eight as he had stated.
This was upon learning from the advocate that the passport is stamped four times per trip, two on entry and two on exit, and not twice as he believed.
Advocate Tshotlego Makamedi for accused three, Lipholo, asked the witness why he did not want the accused to get bail.
One response was that "the community at large" did not want his release and that his life would potentially be in danger if he were released.
"[By] community at large, do you mean the Bloemfontein Celtic FC fan club?" Makamedi asked.
This was after the court heard that the Celtic fan club, which supported Bereng's memorial, was a fan club for a non-existent football team. The team was sold in 2021.
The advocate also questioned the witness's testimony that Lipholo feared for his life and said he did not call the police but that police called him to meet them at a mall, where he was arrested.
The witness said: "It's surprising that the police officer would call him to the mall when he does not work at the mall. He would call him to the police station."
He said if the accused received bail, the community "would definitely" be after him.
"The accused told us that he is fearing for his life."
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