The lawsuit filed by Dr. Nandipha Magudumana to challenge her arrest in connection with the prison break of her husband, Thabo Bester, has been dismissed. The court ruled that her abduction in Tanzania, against her consent, did not invalidate her arrest. The dismissal comes with costs.
Nandipha stands accused of aiding her husband, Thabo Bester, a convicted rapist and killer, in his escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre on May 3, 2022, by faking his death. She was apprehended with Thabo Bester in Tanzania, where they had fled to, and subsequently deported back to South Africa.
However, Nandipha filed an urgent application to declare her arrest in Tanzania as unlawful. She argued that the South Africa Police Service (SAPS), the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in South Africa, and the Department of Home Affairs had unlawfully abducted her from Tanzania. She claimed that her arrest lacked proper legal grounds for extradition, and as a South African citizen, she was not required to have a visa to visit Tanzania.
Nandipha contended that her deportation to South Africa meant that Bester and Magudumana had violated immigration laws rather than criminal laws.
Magudumana argued that, due to the circumstances surrounding her arrest and the legality of the process, all legal proceedings against her should be withdrawn. She claimed that her deportation was a disguised form of “calculated extradition” intended to force her return to South Africa.
However, the court rejected Magudumana’s application, noting that Tanzania had declared her and Thabo Bester as “undesirable immigrants,” leading to their deportation.
Justice Phillip Loubser of the Free State High Court ruled to dismiss Magudumana’s application, stating that “she was aware of the charges that would be brought against her in South Africa, and she consented to her removal.”
The judge also dismissed Magudumana’s urgent application to declare her apprehension in Tanzania unlawful, as well as the charges brought against her in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court and the warrants for her arrest. Furthermore, the judge ordered Magudumana to pay all costs incurred by the state in the case.
“I find the application cannot succeed. It is dismissed with costs,” ruled Judge Phillip Loubser. The judgment has now been issued.
