In a significant development on Tuesday, the High Court in Bloemfontein dismissed Dr. Nandipha Magudumana’s bail appeal application related to her involvement in the Thabo Bester prison escape case.
Magudumana’s legal team had previously taken her case to the Supreme Court of Appeal after her initial bail request was denied by the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court. During her bail application in September, the court had raised concerns regarding her potential as a flight risk, citing her apparent ability and willingness to leave the country. This concern arose after her arrest in Tanzania while in the company of her partner, Thabo Bester, who had been convicted of rape and murder.
Bester had executed a daring escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022, staging his own death to elude authorities. The court’s assessment was that Magudumana played a central role in facilitating Bester’s escape from the correctional facility. Consequently, if she were to be released on bail, she could potentially access the resources necessary to orchestrate another escape for Bester, given that he would be transported to and from court from prison.
The magistrate also pointed out that despite Magudumana’s claims of being taken across borders against her will by Bester, she possessed the knowledge and skills to evade detection, as evidenced by her ability to persuade others to cooperate and successfully pass through multiple border posts.
Prior to this ruling, in June, Magudumana had made an unsuccessful attempt to secure her release from prison when the Bloemfontein High Court rejected her application to declare her arrest and apprehension in Tanzania as unconstitutional and unlawful.
Dr. Nandipha Magudumana is currently facing a litany of charges, including fraud, violating a body, corruption, arson, assisting an inmate to escape, harboring and concealing an escaped prisoner, and obstructing the course of justice.