THE family of Katleho Mothusi Bereng has made a humble plea to the Free State High Court.
They urged the court not to prolong the highly anticipated pre-trial of Facebook rapist and murderer Thabo Bester, his controversial girlfriend Dr Nandipha Magudumana and their co-accused, like Senzo Meyiwa's trial.
The family members are of the view that Bester's prison escape case was more complicated than Meyiwa’s.
Family spokeswoman Poppie Bereng told Daily Sun the prolonging of the case would disrupt their closure on the matter.
"We want the high court to dig deeper into how Katleho became a scapegoat in Thabo Bester's complicated prison escape. How did they identify him? Who managed to hit him with a strong object before he was smuggled into cell 35 where Bester was convicted for life imprisonment in the Mangaung Correctional Centre. This was under the fully armed British security company, G4S," she said
Katleho's body was recovered burnt beyond recognition in Bester's single cell after being reported missing in 2022.
But authorities discovered later that Bester faked his death and Magudumana allegedly orchestrated Katleho's brutal death.
This after the post-mortem report revealed Katleho died as result of force on the head before he was used a decoy in Bester's prison escape.
"We're still traumatised. Katleho's brutal murder caused a lifetime pain in the family's hearts. We were expecting a lot from him. He was a good father to his daughters. He didn't deserve to be killed like a dog. We want whoever participated in his murder to rot in jail. What we've seen in the Senzo Meyiwa's case is an indirect punishment.
"Senzo's father died waiting for justice. We don't want to be the second victims of justice. We've seen lawyers withdraw from representing Bester which gives us a concern about a delay in the matter," said Popie.
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The other accused in the matter include G4S security officers Senowe Matsoara, Motanyane Masukela, Tieho Makgotsa, CCTV technician Teboho Lipholo, Magudumana's father Zolile Sekeleni, Joel Maketha as well as Zimbabwean national Zanda Moyo.
The accused are facing a range of charges including assisting a convicted prisoner to escape from lawful custody, fraud, corruption and violation of a corpse.
Meanwhile, NPA acting spokesman Mojalefa Senokoatsane said if the information that will be coming out in court may bring closure and comfort to the family, it would be appreciated if they attended the matter.
"It will also be in the interest of justice for the family to know what happened to their family member," he said.
The highly anticipated pre-trial of Bester's dramatic escape from prison is expected to start on Wednesday, 21 February.
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