POLL | What do you make of Thabo and Nandipha's 'tender' moment in court?

After months of not seeing each other, convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester had a “tender” moment with his lover Dr Nandipha Magudumana when they appeared in the Bloemfontein magistrate's court on Tuesday.

Bester is charged with escaping from the Mangaung maximum security prison in May last year. Magudumana faces charges of fraud, violating a body, corruption and aiding Bester's escape.

Since the arrest, Magudumana has been kept in Kroonstad Correctional Centre in the Free State and Bester in the Kgosi Mampuru Prison in Pretoria.

The couple were seated next to each other and seemed excited as they chatted for a few minutes before the court proceedings started.

Bester laughed and smiled as he greeted his other co-accused in the dock, including former prison warder Senohe Ishmael Matsoara, Buti Masukela and CCTV technician Teboho Lipholo.

Ten accused linked to Bester's escape were granted bail, while Magudumana and Bester remain incarcerated. The case has been postponed to October 11 for further investigation.