Convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester’s urgent bid to be transferred from the country’s supermax prison, eBongweni, in Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal, has failed yet again. The Pretoria high court dismissed his case on Tuesday.
Bester approached the court to challenge his transfer from Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre, in Pretoria, to eBongweni Super Maximum Correctional Centre. A similar application was struck off the roll last month as the department was given only a day to respond to Bester’s application.
In Tuesday’s hearing, his advocate, Benjamin Moafrika wa Maila, argued that the transfer was unreasonable and procedurally unfair, and that it infringed on Bester’s constitutional right to legal representation.
Wa Maila told the court Bester was preparing for pending proceedings in the Bloemfontein high court relating to his escape case and that meaningful consultation was being hampered by the distance between Kokstad and his Pretoria-based lawyers.
Wa Maila submitted that consultations at eBongweni were ineffective and financially burdensome, saying travel and related costs would ultimately prejudice Bester’s ability to prepare for trial. He argued that correctional services had not provided a detailed security risk assessment to justify the transfer, relying instead on a general reference to “security reasons”.
Judge John Holland-Muter said the department of correctional services maintained that the transfer was lawful and effected in terms of the Correctional Services Act and its regulations.
The department said inmate transfers for security reasons are routine and do not require prior notice to inmates or their legal representatives.
Acting head of C-Max, Ntsizi Qebengu, argued in the department’s papers that Bester’s rights had not been infringed, as his lawyers remain free to consult with him at eBongweni, either in person or through virtual means.
The court heard that Bester had a record of escaping from a maximum security facility, and that his placement at a supermax prison was linked to security considerations.
In delivering judgment, Holland-Muter found there was no urgency warranting intervention and no evidence of procedural unfairness. The judge said the regulations permitted transfers for security purposes and did not oblige authorities to consult inmates beforehand.
The court further noted that Bester was not currently in the midst of a criminal trial, as no trial date had been set, and that any pretrial consultations could take place from the Kokstad facility.
Finding no merit in the application, the court dismissed it and ordered that each party pay its own costs.
TimesLIVE
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