LAWFULNESS OF MAGUDUMANA'S ARREST SET TO BE ARGUED IN COURT

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has confirmed that the urgent application by Dr Nandipha Magudumana to declare her arrest and detention unlawful will be heard in the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein on Friday.

Magudumana’s attorney, Machini Motloung, filed papers in the high court last week, claiming that police forcefully abducted her following her arrest and deported her from Tanzania last month.

Magudumana was arrested together with Facebook rapist, Thabo Bester, and a Mozambican national in Arusha, Tanzania, on 7 April.

Her matter was meant to be heard on Thursday but NPA spokesperson, Mthunzi Mhaga, said that the matter would now be heard on Friday.

"I can confirm that the urgent application launched by Dr Nandipha Magudumana in the Free State High Court against the director of public prosecutions, the minister of police, the magistrate hearing the matter, as well as correctional services, will be heard on the 26th of May, Friday, at 10AM or soon thereafter as counsel may be heard."

Last week, Magudumana’s attorney, Machini Motloung, submitted an urgent application to the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein, claiming police forcefully abducted and deported her to South Africa from Tanzania without following due processes.

JOHANNESBURG - Doctor Nandipha Magudumana’s argument that her arrest and subsequent detention is unlawful has forced the State into a corner over her deportation from Tanzania to South Africa.

Last week, Magudumana’s attorney, Machini Motloung, submitted an urgent application to the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein, claiming police forcefully abducted and deported her to South Africa from Tanzania without following due processes.

Magudumana was arrested together with Facebook Rapist, Thabo Bester, and a Mozambican national in Arusha, Tanzania, on 7 April.

According to the Tanzanian immigration act of 1995, the deportation process would entail a person being arrested by Tanzanian authorities and convicted in the country prior to being deported.

But there are provisions within the act that allows the minister of home affairs in Tanzania to bypass this process.

Legal analyst Melusi Xulu explains: "If you are a prohibited immigrant, if you are in the country unlawfully or if the minister is of the opinion that your continued presence will bring danger to peace or good order in the country, then you are deported."

It remains unclear whether this order was granted in terms of Magudumana’s deportation but it will be a crucial aspect argued on Friday when her case is heard in the high court.

Thabo Bester’s alleged accomplice was arrested and deported from Tanzania by South African police, but her defence on Friday will be arguing that those officers did not have the jurisdiction to effect an arrest on Tanzanian soil.

The lawfulness of alleged criminal Dr Nandipha Magudumana's arrest will be argued in the Bloemfontein High Court on Friday morning.

Magudumana, the alleged accomplice of rapist and killer Thabo Bester, is challenging her arrest and deportation from Arusha, Tanzania, where she was detained with him.

This comes after his brazen prison break from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022.

Bester escaped from the prison where he was serving a life sentence.

In her founding papers, disgraced Magudumana argued that she was abducted, blindfolded, and taken to the airport in Tanzania by South African police.

Her lawyers will argue that those officers did not have jurisdiction to effect an arrest on Tanzanian soil.

They will also argue that in effecting her return to South Africa, procedure according to the country’s extradition agreement with Tanzania was flouted.

The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Mthunzi Mhaga said they are ready to challenge Magudumana's urgent application.

“We will oppose the urgent application lodged by Dr Nandipha Magudumana because we believe there is no merit in that application. However, our team will unpack the grounds upon which we are basing our opposition during hearing."

At the same time, the Department of Home Affairs, claiming to be at the forefront of Magudumana and Bester's arrest, wants to be cited as a respondent, and Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has expressed his intention to challenge the urgency of this matter.