Charges against former G4S employee Motanyane John Masukela, who was on duty when prisoner Thabo Bester allegedly faked his death to escape from the Mangaung correctional facility, have been withdrawn.
Masukela and eight co-accused, including Bester and Nandipha Magudumana, appeared in the high court in Bloemfontein on Tuesday for a pretrial hearing.
During proceedings, prosecutor advocate Amanda Bester announced the decision to withdraw the charges against Masukela, who was listed as accused No 5.
“I am going to withdraw the case against one of the accused. We can excuse him and he can go in peace,” said Bester
No reason was provided for the withdrawal and there were no objections from the defence or the court. Masukela was excused from further proceedings.
Charges against three other G4S personnel were also withdrawn in October 2023.
Bester and the remaining co-accused face charges ranging from aiding an escape, defeating the ends of justice, to fraud and corruption and the violation of a corpse.
The case has been postponed to September 19.
TimesLIVE
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