The decision for Dr. Nandipha Magudumana to file an abduction lawsuit against the state removes the possibility of stronger arguments.
Magudumana, the wife of convicted rapist and killer Thabo Bester, is accused of aiding the rapist in his prison escape from Mangaung Correctional Centre on May 3, 2022, after faking his death.
Last week, Nandipha filed an urgent application to have her arrest in Tanzania declared unlawful. In her lawsuit against the South Africa Police Service (SAPS), SA’s Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), and the Home Affairs, she claims she was abducted from Tanzania as she was not legally arrested for extradition and was not barred from visiting Tanzania as South Africans do not require a visa to travel there. Her deportation to South Africa means Bester and Magudumana allegedly violated immigration laws instead of criminal laws.
However, Dr. Nandipha Magudumana argues that the South Africa Police Service (SAPS) colluded with the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and Home Affairs in a “calculated extradition” to force her return to South Africa.
While the SAPS insists that Nandipha was arrested “upon arrival” in South Africa at Lanseria Airport, Nandipha argues that these arguments contradict what Bheki Cele told the media last month. Nandipha claims that the SAPS minister remarked that her arrest was “directed” from South Africa.
Criminal legal commentators believe a stronger argument for Magudumana would be to play the victim card and claim that she was held against her will by the rapist, Thabo Bester.
“A free Magudumana is better for Thabo Bester than having both of them incarcerated. While the abduction argument does have some merit, the demerits are more significant compared to the argument that she was being held against her will,” said Lisa Chip, a criminal legal advocate.
Likewise, a childhood friend of Nandipha claimed that Thabo Bester, who used to leave the prison on his own, showed up with hired gunmen.
Nandipha’s friend said she was terrified of Thabo Bester, who, the friend said, was physically abusive towards the aesthetician and her children.
“He used to beat up her children; that’s why she is so terrified of him. This guy had some power over her. It was either the threat of life or something else.”
Two other friends who attended the disgraced medical doctor’s gathering at her home in Hyde Park on September 4 last year said she was assaulted by Thabo Bester in front of her children after an argument.
However, the credibility of these claims, considering the close relationship of the people who made them to Dr. Nandipha, could not be verified.
Meanwhile, the state has argued against Nandipha’s claims by asserting that she was abducted from Tanzania, implying that she was in Tanzania with Thabo Bester of her own free will, as her deportation did not follow the “extradition” orders.
Lawyer for Thabo Bester has also revealed that the Facebook rapist is considering challenging his re-arrest in Tanzania and deportation to South Africa.
The case continues…
