Thabo Bester, convicted of rape and murder, is awaiting trial for his escape from prison and related offences, lost his urgent application to have access to a laptop and other devices to prepare for his deportation case as well as for his criminal trial. This should not be surprising.
He turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, on Tuesday in which he conducted his own application in a bid for correctional services to allow him to use these devices. Bester is now fighting his extradition and told the judge that he needed access to a laptop and other electronic resources to prepare for that case, in which he claims his deportation was illegal. He said he also needed these devices to prepare for his main criminal trial, together with his co-accused which is due to go ahead next year. In turning down his application for a lack of urgency, the judge pointed out that Bester is legally represented in both the criminal trial and his deportation application. She also said these cases are not yet off the ground.
If Bester is asking for special treatment in his case, he won’t receive any. There is no urgency in the application he made to the Gauteng High Court because he has already been granted adequate representation in the trials he is facing. It is unlikely that Bester’s deportation from Tanzania was unlawful given the fact that he is an escaped convict from South Africa who lived in Tanzania under a false alias/identity. Bester is using his current imprisonment as a mechanism to procure items that would make his imprisonment more comfortable and therefore a farce. His application for a laptop and other electronic devices reeks of entitlement. Entitlement he as a former escaped convict does not deserve due to the crimes he has committed. The judge was right to dismiss his application given that Bester did not actually need the above devices. It was the correct judgement.
Bester has become a fixture in media not for his crimes but for his list of demands to the courts from the laptop to designer clothes. All issues of entitlement which shows disrespect to the courts.
The rights of South African citizens are enshrined in the Constitution, including the right to access the courts and have their disputes resolved without unreasonable delay. Yet, with a significant backlog of cases, justice is delayed for many, leaving them in limbo for years. This delay disproportionately affects those who do not have the resources or means to file multiple legal bids. It’s a troubling reality that while Bester’s requests and upcoming trial, set for February 2025, are swiftly entertained and drawing nearer, victims of crime, labour injustices, and claimants awaiting compensation from the RAF remain stuck in long queues, with little relief in sight. The legal system, already strained by limited resources and a shortage of judges, cannot afford to continue to devout its time to less pressing matters when so many critical cases await their day in court.
It largely depends on which applicants have the money and are able to attract the Media’s interest. Like Bester. However, another significant problem is the organization of cases and prosecutions by the courts. This leads to a long delay of the trial going to court. There is a need for a large-scale reform of the courts and prosecution services. There needs to be a participation in legal trials by civil society groups for those who are unable to afford it such as the poor and the destitute. Although Bester’s trial is being closely watched by the nation, the concern over Gender Based Violence (GBV) and other forms of abuses that happen on a daily bases barely make it into the public arena. The fact that there is a shortage of fully trained professional judges deeply harms the integrity of the judicial process. This is a crisis that needs to be addressed by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJCD).
The real issue here is not actually Thabo Bester; it’s about a legal system that has become overwhelmed, disorganised, and misaligned in its priorities. With fewer judges, overworked courts, and increasing delays, South Africa’s judiciary is in desperate need of reform. The obvious solution lies in the appointment of more judges and the creation of specialised courts to deal with cases like those involving the RAF, where the bulk of delays occur. Virtual hearings should certainly be encouraged for matters heard on the papers to help reduce the backlog. Alternatively, the judiciary could implement measures to prevent the abuse of court resources by individuals like Bester, whose endless stream of applications wastes valuable time and energy.
We cannot continue to give airtime to individuals who abuse the system while neglecting the cases that matter most to ordinary South Africans. It’s time for the courts to realign priorities and address the backlogs that threaten the very fabric of justice in our country.
The matter at hand is that although the Bester Case is deserving of public attention from South Africans, the inadequacy of the country’s judiciary needs to be addressed. There needs to be a serious overhaul of the Judiciary’s independence. This can only happen when the Judicial review committee is given more power to determine nominations. The nominations of judges and prosecutors particularly the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Specialised courts would go a long way in dealing with legal scandals and corruption such as the Road Accident Fund (RAF) fiasco. Hiring more judges from among the country’s law school graduates needs to be addressed by the Justice and Constitutional Development Department as well as the president and the parliamentary committees involved in legal affairs.
The Courts and prosecutors’ system desperately need to be upgraded. There needs to be recommended a large-scale recruitment of judges and prosecutors from graduate law students and lawyers who are not working. It is up to the DOJCD to put its priorities straight. As for Thabo Bester there is no doubt that he is going back to jail.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
