Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has defended the R1.4-million spent to bring Thabo Bester and Dr Nandipha Magudumana back to South Africa.

On Tuesday, Motsoaledi told the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs that they had to charter a flight to bring the pair back at the cost of R1.4-million.

"You can fly from here to Dar es Salaam and other places and pay R6 000. Which commercial flight do you think would have accepted [Bester]... and then passengers seated comfortably seeing two people in handcuffs entering an aircraft with several people to make sure they don't run away," he said.

Motsoaledi was adamant that the State agencies involved in bringing Bester back to the country had made the right choice.

"I don’t think any aircraft [company] would have allowed that situation. I don't remember where thugs of this nature flew around the world on commercial [passenger] flights. We have never deported anybody on a commercial flight."

"When we deported Congolese Papy Sukami… imagine we put that man into an aircraft with other innocent passengers on a commercial flight. I am sorry, but we cannot do that, as much as we want to save money."

Motsoaledi joked that had Bester been brought back on a commercial flight, he would have made the headlines.

"If we did that, you members of Parliament would be tearing me apart for being careless. We took the cheapest flight. This was the best option than going with a commercial flight," he said.

Bester appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on Friday for the first time since he was recaptured after his escape last year, and he will be back in court on 16 May.

Magudumana, who was Bester's accomplice, also appeared in court for her alleged role in helping Bester escape from prison.

Magudumana’s father Zolile Sekeleni was granted R10 000 bail in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court.

Sekeleni and his co-accused – Magudumana, former G4S employee Senohe Matsoara, and camera installer Teboho Lipholo – are charged with helping convicted rapist and murderer Bester escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein in May 2022.

Motsoaledi added that Tanzanian officials had wanted Bester and Magudumana to be handed over to immigration officials.

As the Department of Home Affairs doesn’t have its own plane, the 14 officials necessary for the operation would have had to fly commercially.

They would then have to hire minibuses and drive 600km from Dar es Salaam to Arusha, and back.

According to Motsoaledi, they had been forced to charter a flight and made use of Treasury's database. They took the cheapest option, at R1.4-million.

"We never asked anyone for a luxury flight," said Motsoaledi, adding that his department had only paid one third of the total costs.