Convicted murderer and ‘Facebook rapist’ Thabo Bester has filed another legal challenge in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria), this time against his transfer on Friday to the eBongweni Super Maximum Correctional Facility, reports The Citizen.

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) confirmed Bester’s transfer, alongside that of alleged criminal mastermind Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala, from the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre (C-Max) in Pretoria to the eBongweni Super-Maximum Correctional Centre in Kokstad, saying transfers are ‘routine’ and ‘guided by established security risk assessments to ensure the safety, security and stability of correctional facilities and the broader criminal justice system’.

The department said Bester would continue to receive ‘appropriate care’ and retain full access to legal representation, family communication and court processes.

In his challenge, Bester states that he anticipates the department will justify his transfer on the grounds of operational necessity, space management and security considerations.

Bester says these reasons are ‘vague’ and he had not been informed of the move before or after the transfer, rendering the decision ‘irrational’.

He said he did not believe there were ‘legitimate security concerns’ and that the DCS is separating him from his legal team in Gauteng.

If this was allowed to stand, the criminal trial, of which he is the seventh accused, will inevitably be delayed.

‘This will curtail the rights of the rest of the defendants to a speedy trial’.

Bester has several several interlocutory applications in various courts, which his lawyer says are necessary to prepare for his defence in the main trial.

Bester has also previously requested that the court allow his legal representatives to bring him food in court.

Full report in The Citizen