{"id":95216,"date":"2026-02-02T18:55:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T18:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dcs-defends-matlala-and-besters-super-max-move"},"modified":"2026-02-02T19:02:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T19:02:43","slug":"dcs-defends-matlala-and-besters-super-max-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dcs-defends-matlala-and-besters-super-max-move","title":{"rendered":"DCS Defends Matlala and Bester’s Super-Max Move"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>The Correctional Services Department says the decision to transfer attempted murder accused Vusimuzi \u201ccat\u201d Matlala to a Super-Maximum prison in KwaZulu-Natal was partly taken in the interest of his safety.<\/p>\n

Matlala was recently moved from Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre in Pretoria to the Ebongweni Super Maximum correctional facility in Kokstad.<\/p>\n

The department says the transfer followed a risk and threat assessment conducted on the attempted murder accused.<\/p>\n

Convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester was also recently transferred to the same facility under similar circumstances.<\/p>\n

The Department of Correctional Services has remained tight-lipped about the exact circumstances that led to the transfers of Thabo Bester and Vusimuzi \u201ccat\u201d Matlala from Kgosi Mampuru to the Ebongweni super-maximum correctional facility.<\/p>\n

Officials continue to cite risk and threat assessments conducted on both inmates, but have refused to disclose the details to the media.<\/p>\n

Correctional Services Commissioner Samuel Thobakgale says the transfers of Matlala and convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester were necessary.<\/p>\n

“We are ensuring that on the day he is supposed to present himself before the courts, he does so at the right time, in good health, and also to in a position to go through the proceedings in court.”<\/p>\n

With matlala\u2019s court matter sitting in Johannesburg, thobakgale says he doesn\u2019t anticipate any disruptions during the guarded transporting of matlala from the kzn-prison to gauteng high court.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Correctional Services Department says the decision to transfer attempted murder accused Vusimuzi \u201ccat\u201d Matlala to a Super-Maximum prison in KwaZulu-Natal was partly taken in the interest of his safety. Matlala was recently moved from Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre in Pretoria to the Ebongweni Super Maximum correctional facility in Kokstad. The department […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":95215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-95216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nDCS Defends Matlala and Bester's Super-Max Move - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Correctional Services Department says the decision to transfer attempted murder accused Vusimuzi \u201ccat\u201d Matlala to a ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dcs-defends-matlala-and-besters-super-max-move\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DCS Defends Matlala and Bester's Super-Max Move\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Correctional Services Department says the decision to transfer attempted murder accused Vusimuzi \u201ccat\u201d Matlala to a ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dcs-defends-matlala-and-besters-super-max-move\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-02T18:55:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-02T19:02:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1770046325.329431.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dcs-defends-matlala-and-besters-super-max-move#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dcs-defends-matlala-and-besters-super-max-move\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"DCS Defends Matlala and Bester’s Super-Max Move\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-02T18:55:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-02T19:02:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dcs-defends-matlala-and-besters-super-max-move\"},\"wordCount\":246,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dcs-defends-matlala-and-besters-super-max-move#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1770046325.329431.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dcs-defends-matlala-and-besters-super-max-move#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dcs-defends-matlala-and-besters-super-max-move\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dcs-defends-matlala-and-besters-super-max-move\",\"name\":\"DCS Defends Matlala and Bester's Super-Max Move - 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