Mangaung Correctional Centre,
BLOEMFONTEIN - A High Court ruling has dealt a setback to the government's response to the Thabo Bester prison escape.
The court has set aside the decision to place Mangaung Correctional Centre under state control, four years after Bester escaped from the facility.
Judges found that the emergency powers used to justify the intervention did not meet the legal requirements set out in the Correctional Services Act.
The ruling also found that existing contractual remedies had already been applied before the takeover decision was made.
The Department of Correctional Services has been ordered to repay more than R1.7-million linked to the intervention.