The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says it will oppose the urgent application of the convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester’s partner Dr Nandipha Magudumana.
The application in which Magudumana is seeking to have her arrest in Tanzania and deportation to South Africa declared unlawful, will be heard in the Free State High Court on Friday.
Dr Nandipha Magudumana seeks acquittal, challenges arrest in Tanzania:
Magudumana and Bester were arrested in Arusha last month.
Bester escaped from Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein in May last year, in a staged suicide that allegedly involved the assistance of employees of the facility.
The NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhanga says, “National Prosecuting Authority through the Directorate of Prosecutions in the Free State will oppose the urgent application lodged by Dr Nandipha Magudumana in the Free State High Court because we believe that there is no merit in that application. However, our team will unpack the grounds upon which we are basing our opposition during the hearing.”
Legal expert Thabo Molete says the country’s constitution is clear that everyone has a right to freedom and security and any conduct that is in conflict with the supreme law, is invalid.
He says if Dr Magudumana can prove that she was arrested by SAPS in Tanzania then her bid to be discharged will be successful.
Thabo Bester saga | Dr Nandipha seeks discharge in Free State High Court: Adv Thabo Molete
In papers before the court, the 34-year-old says on the 6th of April, members of the South African Police Service arrested and abducted her.
Magudumana will argue before the court on Friday that members of SAPS had no jurisdiction in Tanzania to arrest and charge her.
She claims that on her way back from Tanzania she was blindfolded by the police. She also says her detention at Bizzah Makhathe Correctional Centre in Kroonstad is unlawful.
Legal expert Dikeledi Moeti says the fact that Dr Magudumana has suspended her bail application in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court might disadvantage her bid in the High Court to be discharged.
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