A tense exchange broke out during a parliamentary committee meeting after convicted murderer Thabo Bester submitted a last-minute request to appear before MPs.

The Witness reports that Parliament’s ad hoc committee, probing allegations made by KZN police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, met yesterday to deal with administrative matters, but the meeting took a dramatic turn when Bester’s submission was raised.

Request deemed vague

Committee members were told that Bester, through his legal representatives, wanted to testify, claiming his input would assist the committee’s work.

However, Parliament’s legal team described the request as vague and lacking detail.

“The letter is scant. It is not clearly spelt out what contribution he would be making,” a legal adviser told the committee.

MPs reject late submission

MPs ultimately agreed it was too late in the process to consider his request, noting that Bester has other avenues available to him.

But it was committee chairperson Soviet Lekganyane who voiced the strongest opposition.

“We are at a point where South Africans want solutions. We cannot be turned into a platform for people to raise frivolous matters,” he said.

Lekganyane stressed that Bester — a convicted criminal who escaped prison before being rearrested — was not justified in seeking to address Parliament.

“We can’t promote lawlessness. A person escapes from custody and then wants to come before us to justify himself? We can’t accept that,” he said.

Matter for the courts

He added that any disputes around Bester’s arrest or extradition should be handled by the courts, not Parliament.

Bester, infamously dubbed the ‘Facebook rapist’, was arrested in Tanzania in 2023 along with his partner after a dramatic prison escape from Mangaung Correctional Centre.

He is currently awaiting trial on multiple charges.

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