Bester & Magudumana briefly reunited in court as case postponed ...

Thabo Bester briefly appeared physically at the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning, alongside his eleven co-accused, including his alleged main accomplice Nandipha Magudumana for the first time.

Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magudumana chat in the dock ahead of their appearance in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on 8 August 2023. Picture: Orrin Singh/Eyewitness News

BLOEMFONTEIN - The case of murder and rape convict Thabo Bester has been postponed to 11 October for further investigations.

Bester briefly appeared physically at the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning, alongside his eleven co-accused, including his alleged main accomplice Nandipha Magudumana for the first time.

He put on a show, laughing hysterically in court with one of the men accused of assisting him in his elaborate prison escape last year.

IN PICS| #Bester and #Magudumana chat in the dock ahead of their court appearance in the Bloemfontein magistrates court. They are flanked by 10 of their co-accused, who are all implicated in assisting Bester escape prison in May last year. pic.twitter.com/rnqAjtRb7I

' EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) August 8, 2023

Bester entered the dock freshly groomed, with a relaxed demeanor in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning, where 11 of his co-accused were already seated.

He greeted his alleged main accomplice and lover, Magudumana, the two locked eyes, smiling coyly at each other as he sat down next to her, seeing her for the first time since their arrest in Tanzania in April.

Bester then turned to former G4S employee Buti Masukela, greeting him, and the duo began laughing hysterically.

Among those watching Bester and Masukela laugh was the family of Katlego Bereng, whose body was falsely claimed from a mortuary, smuggled into prison, and set alight in Bester's cell.

'INHUMANE TREATMENT'

The case against Bester and his 11 co-accused has been postponed for final investigations.

Bester's attorney claimed he had been treated inhumanely while being detained at Kgosi Mampuru Prison in Pretoria.

He alleged that Bester spends 23 hours a day handcuffed in his cell.

He further alleged that a number of items went missing during Bester's arrest in Tanzania.

The items include cash in the form of rands, dollars, Swiss franks, cellphones, laptops, high-end watches, sunglasses, and a wedding ring, all of which are valued at millions of rands.