In a surprising twist to an already dramatic case, convicted South African murderer and rapist, Thabo Bester, announced in court on Wednesday that he would be adding legal heavyweight and politician, Dali Mpofu, to his team of representatives.
The change in legal representatives caught everyone by surprise at the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court, with Peter Matee, who stood as Bester’s advocate at his last court appearance in August, also expressing ignorance of the sudden additions.
A new lawyer, Jan Loubser, attended Wednesday’s proceedings, seemingly without Matee’s knowledge. Matee sought clarity, saying he had not been excused as the attorney on record despite consulting with Bester “at length” before proceedings.
Bester then told the court that not only would Loubser be representing him alongside Matee, he would also be joined by Mpofu.
“They’re both going to be part of my team … I feel like there’s quite a few things I want them to deal with and I would like both of them to remain as my instructing attorneys, [with] advocate Mshololo and adding on advocate Dali Mpofu. So, I would like both of them to remain on the team,” Bester said.
After the issue was clarified, Matee highlighted the fact that it seemed even telephone calls between Bester and his legal reps were being recorded by the state.
“Whenever accused No 5 [Bester] wants to contact his legal rep, he does that telephonically on most occasions. However, those telephonic conversations are being recorded and we all know about attorney-client privilege … those telephonic conversations may not and cannot be recorded,” Matee said.
The prosecutor denied knowledge of this, before the case, which is set to go for pretrial in February, was transferred to the High Court.
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