Moeketsi Ramolula, accused of the Thabo Bester’s escape case happy to be incarcerated while Joel Makhetha was released on R10 000 bail. Photo by Joseph Mokoaledi
THE highly anticipated Thabo Bester’s escape case had an unbelievable twist in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Tuesday, 11 July.
Two G4S employees, Joel Makhetha and Moeketsi Ramolula, appeared for a formal bail application when the state made a u-turn from the previous submission of opposing bail to unopposed.
State prosecutor Advocate Sello Matlhoko told Magistrate Estelle de Langa that the state has no intention to continue to oppose bail and allow the court to set a bail amount of about R10 000.
During the arguments, accused number 12 Moeketsi Ramolula abandoned an unopposed bail while his co-accused was released on R10 000 bail.
Makhetha and Ramodula were charged with Schedule 5 offences, assisting a convicted prisoner to escape from lawful custody and violation of a dead body.
The duo is the latest group of suspects who have been apprehended concerning their involvement in Bester’s dramatic escape from Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein, Free State, in May 2022.
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So far, 12 people have been arrested and appeared numerous times in court.
Dr Nandipha Magudumana, Senohe Matsoara, Motanyane Masukela, Teboho Lipholo, Tieho Makhotsa, Natassja Jansen, Zolile Sekeleni and Thabang Mier form part accused in Bester’s high-profile prison escape case.
It was a futile exercise for Magistrate Motlholo Khabisi, who previously denied Matsoara, Lipholo and Makhotsa bail because the Free State High Court turned down his decision on the basis that the accused were not a flight risk, they won’t interfere with the witnesses and no possible community unrest.
The investigating officer has since submitted to the court that Matsoara was the one who brought the body of Katleho Bereng to the prison premises as a decoy for Bester to escape travelling with a car that was rented by Dr Nandipha’s father, Zolile.
Meanwhile, police have released an identikit of an unknown body of a man who was found in a river in Bloemfontein.
Brigadier Motantsi Makhele said the man’s body was found in the Modder River near Bloemfontein.
“The body was first found in Lovedale Road in a hit-and-run on 9 October 2021. The body was then claimed by one of the accused in the Thabo Bester escape case at the Bloemfontein government mortuary. It was found again on 28 April 2022 in the Modder River. Anybody with information on who this man can be or the whereabouts of the next of kin can contact the nearest police station,” he said
The accused will appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on 8 August.
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