Thabo Bester hasn’t eaten in two days out of fear he’d be poisoned

By Alex Patrick | News24 |

SOUTH AFRICA – Convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester tried and failed to get the court to allow special meals to be delivered to him in jail.

Bester appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday after he was extradited from Tanzania this week, along with his partner and co-accused, aesthetics doctor Nandipha Magudumana.

The pair made headlines when it was revealed that Bester was not only alive after a fire in his prison cell, but had been living with Magudumana in palatial homes all over Johannesburg.

Bester is accused number five in a growing list of people charged with helping him to escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre last year.

Unlike Magudumana, who covered her head and face during a court appearance on Thursday, Bester held his head high, smiled and played to the cameras.

He asked to speak to the court to complain that he had not eaten in two days.

The magistrate, Mohlolo Kgabisi, said Bester had the opportunity to speak to the court through his lawyer, Marvin Carpede.

Kgabisi asked for clarity on the allegation – and Carpede said Bester believed he would be poisoned in jail.

The State’s lawyer, Sello Matlhoko, said he was surprised to hear about this concern because Bester had, previously, eaten prison food for more than eight years, without being poisoned.

The magistrate said he could not authorise special treatment for Bester – and he would have to eat the same food as every other prisoner.

Carpede tried again, telling the magistrate that Bester’s case was unusual and that his safety was important. He reiterated that Bester had not eaten in two days.

This did not move the court in any way.

Bester will appear in court again on 16 May.