Dr. Nandipha Magudumana Files Lawsuit to Declare Arrest and Abduction Unlawful

Dr. Nandipha Magudumana’s legal counsel has lodged a petition with the Free States High Court, seeking her immediate release from incarceration. The motion highlights various grounds, notably the unlawful nature of Dr. Nandipha’s arrest and her alleged ‘abduction’ which happened back in April, when she was apprehended while on the run with Thabo Bester in Tanzania.

Dr. Nandipha Magudumana, the alleged partner of Thabo Bester, commonly known as the “Facebook rapist,” has initiated an urgent court application seeking a declaration of her arrest and subsequent detention as “unlawful.”

Following her arrest alongside Bester in Tanzania during April, Magudumana has filed legal documents with the Free State High Court. The urgent court application aims to challenge the legality of Magudumana’s arrest in Tanzania and her subsequent deportation to South Africa for detention.

The filed papers assert that Magudumana was not only arrested but also characterize her apprehension as an “abduction.”

Phaladi Suping, the spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the Free State, expressed uncertainty regarding the filing of responsive documents by the NPA.

“In an instance like this, the legal representative of Magudumana will first have to submit their papers and then NPA will be the ones responding, so whether they have filed responding papers I am not sure.”

Magudumana is facing about 12 criminal charges linked to Bester’s escape from the Mangaung Prison in May last year, after he faked his own death. As of now, she has not submitted a bail application and remains incarcerated at Kroonstad Prison.