Thabo Bester trial date set for March 2027

[00:00:00]The issue of consultations, once again, took a center stage. This time, Bester's lawyer wanted him transferred back to Kusima Correctional Center for the preparation of the trial. They contend the team requires ample time for proper consultation.

[00:00:17]The team also argues that it had no contact with Bester since his transfer and that attempts to request engagement from correctional services has fallen on deaf ears. The defense argued that this frustrates the relationship between the client and the legal team and this might lead to the termination of legal representation.

[00:00:41]>> But because it is said that the moment there is no any instruction and he's not being allowed at the moment to be communicating with us so that we can have a way forward with this matter.

[00:00:50]Therefore, that's why there was an email that was sent, uh, my lady, to say there is a possibility of termination of a legal team and it makes a whole lot of sense to me to say, "What happened to having a legal team that can't consult with that you cannot instruct?"

[00:01:05]So, [clears throat] what ends up happening is now the suspect remains to be unrepresented, practically and materially, because I'm speaking here, I've not consulted with him in ages.

[00:01:17]>> The court, however, gave a stern warning that the matter cannot be dragged any longer.

[00:01:22]>> This cannot be the reply every time we sit on a case management, uh, hearing.

[00:01:31]This must be resolved here and now. I want this matter to be to go on trial and everybody sitting in this court wants this matter to be finalized. I can just imagine everybody that's being incarcerated, the frustration. They don't know what their fates are.

[00:01:53]>> The state has stepped in to facilitate consultations with the correctional services.

[00:01:58]>> We can then arrange an earlier date if you do not manage to resolve it between you and the prosecutor to see to have a case management sitting and we can then deal with the issue if it's not resolved between you and the prosecutor with correctional services.

[00:02:18]>> While all this unfolds, the family of Katleho Bereng, whose charred remains were used as a decoy in the 2022 prison escape, says it is still struggling to cope with the ordeal.

[00:02:37]>> I'm always hurt because it's like I'm a fool. I'm not taken seriously because I am poor. I don't have money, but if I had money, this was not going to happen.

[00:02:47]What is happening is not right because I don't know where I stand with this case.

[00:02:56]>> Meanwhile, Dr. Nandipha Magudumana is awaiting the judgment from the Constitutional Court over her bid to have her arrest and deportation in Tanzania in April 2023 declared unlawful. The trial date has been provisionally set for the first term of 2027.

[00:03:15]Mahlatsi, SABC News in Bloemfontein.