Dr Nandipha Magudumana’s bid to have her arrest declared unlawful postponed. The Bloemfontein High Court has adjourned Dr. Nandipha Magudumana’s appeal to declare her arrest in Tanzania illegal. Last month, Magudumana and her renowned lover Thabo Bester were both detained and deported. The doctor is charged with helping Bester, who was serving a life sentence at the Mangaung Correctional Facility, make his daring escape in May of last year.
Dr Nandipha Magudumana’s bid to have her arrest declared unlawful postponed.
According to Magudumuna’s defense, the respondents in the application wish to oppose the application, and since the department was initially left out, Home Affairs Minister Dr. Aaaron Motsoaledi would join as a sixth respondent. The department would submit a request to join the proceedings, the minister stated earlier this week, calling it “sinister” that they weren’t included as a respondent.
The defense informed Judge Phillip Loubser that a deal had been reached, that the respondents needed more time to submit their opposition to the application, and that the case may be heard on Thursday of the following week. In order to provide respondents time to submit papers opposing the application, the proceedings were continued until June 1, 2023.
Dr Nandipha Magudumana wants to be freed
Magudumana requests to be dismissed from Bester’s case and removed. She wishes to declare that the 7 April capture, arrest, and kidnapping in Tanzania, as well as the transfer to the country and subsequent alleged capture and custody, are improper and illegal.
She also requests that the arraignment in the criminal case before the current magistrate be declared void and overturned. Additionally, she requests that Buza Makhado, director of the Department of Correctional Services, release her from custody and prevent her from being held any longer.
Dr Nandipha Magudumana charges
Sekeleni was granted R10,000 bail, and the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court will rule on the other accused’s bail application on Monday. Magudumana, her father Xolile Sekeleni, and five G4S guards were arrested for their roles in assisting Bester’s escape in May 2022. They face multiple charges of fraud and corruption, as well as harboring and concealing an escaped offender and defeating the ends of justice.
