Convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester has fired his legal team and says he will represent himself when his long-awaited prison escape trial begins in April 2027.
Bester is facing charges linked to his dramatic escape from Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022. He allegedly faked his death in a prison fire, with a body later found inside the cell. He was eventually arrested in Tanzania in April 2023 and brought back to South Africa.
The escape case is separate from the serious crimes for which Bester is already a convicted prisoner. In 2011, he was sentenced to 50 years after pleading guilty to raping and robbing two women he had lured with promises of modelling opportunities. His sentence was later reduced to 30 years on appeal.
In 2012, Bester was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Nomfundo Tyhulu, as well as an additional 25 years for aggravated robbery.
He was serving that life sentence when he escaped from Mangaung. A 2026 High Court judgment confirmed that his original sentence remains in force and that the escape did not cancel or suspend it.
Now, Bester says he will take on his own defence when the escape trial gets underway on 19 April 2027. The case also involves his former partner Nandipha Magudumana and several other accused.
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