Convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester has approached the High Court in Pretoria in a bid to have access to a laptop to prepare for his deportation case.
Bester, dubbed the Facebook rapist after a spate of robberies, rape and murder, was sentenced to 50 years in jail by the Durban Magistrate’s Court in 2011.
Bester came back into the spotlight in May 2022 after he escaped the Mangaung prison following a fire. A charred body was found in his cell, and presumed to be that of Bester.
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However, his plan went south after he was spotted shopping at a Woolworths in Sandton City, nearly two months after his reported death at the prison.
It was later found that Bester had escaped the Free State prison and he had faked his own death.
Following his escape from jail on 3 May 2022, a manhunt was launched, which led to his arrest in Tanzania.
“The main application is of a person who was deported out of a country in Tanzania with false documents issued by home affairs.
This confirms that the deportation was unlawful. My incarceration is also in question,” said Bester, who represented himself in court.
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“I am challenging the lawfulness of my imprisonment and deportation and arrest in Tanzania. However, I cannot represent myself due to a lack of legal resources, and because of this, I am not able to defend my main application. I require access to a laptop to type.”
The judge told Bester she would not grant him access to a laptop, to which he responded it was his constitutional right to have access to a laptop.
“You will get law books, they will give you access to all the information you need, but not a laptop. You don’t have a constitutional right to a laptop. Show me in the constitution where it says you have the right to access to a laptop,” said the judge.
