SCA rejects Nandipha Magudumana’s bid to declare arrest unlawful

The Supreme Court of Appeal has dismissed Dr Nandipha Magudumana‘s bid to have her arrest declared unlawful.

Magudumana approached the SCA to reverse the decision of the Free State High Court, which dismissed her application to nullify her arrest, on the basis that she had consented to be brought back to the country.

Magudumana is listed as accused number one in the escape of convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester.

LIVE STREAM | SCA delivers judgment in Dr. Magudumana’s extradition case:

The National Prosecuting Authority has welcomed the judgment. NPA National Spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga says, “We welcome the dismissal of the deportation appeal, it vindicates our long-held view firmly so that the deportation of Dr Magudumana from Tanzania in 2023 was above board. There was no untoward conduct on the part of the team that escorted her. We note the minority judgment and in the event that they appeal to the Constitutional Court, we will vigorously and meticulously argue for the same application to be dismissed with costs.”

Magudumana is one of the accused facing charges of aiding and abetting convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester to escape from Mangaung prison in May 2022.

Magudumana bid to appeal arrest dismissed

Last November, Magudumana told the full bench of the SCA that her deportation was a disguised extradition. She and her partner Bester were brought back to the country in April 2023.

Magudumana, who is currently detained at Bizzah Makgathe Correctional Centre, wants the court to declare her arrest in Tanzania invalid, which will render the South African criminal courts’ jurisdiction void.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) told the SCA that she was never arrested or forced nor handcuffed to come back to the country.