State not ready for Thabo Bester trial: expert

JOHANNESBURG - The state has a lot ground work before they can get underway with the Thabo Bester case according to legal expert, Elton Hart.

Hart says he believes more arrests are imminent before trial can finally start.

WATCH: Bester escape accused return to court

He said, "no, obviously the say further investigations, it means that there’s still a lot of things outstanding."

"What I see from this, and I said it on an earlier occasion. I believe that there’s still a lot more accused persons that need to be added to that roster of accused as it stands now, the nine before court."

"I think we will have five more postponements before we actually get into a direction where we know a discovery has been made and we can start preparing for trial. I don’t see the state being ready until 2024. I don’t foresee that."

"The state in essence is admitting that they’re not ready with actually setting the matter down to say we can go to trial. That is the unfortunate part because people want to know what’s happening but… The state is not ready and they’re far from ready, that I know for a fact.”