Nandipha Magudumana claimed in her affidavit during her bail application that she was forced and threatened by accused 5 and her boyfriend Thabo Bester to flee the country. 

She said in her affidavit, read by her defence lawyer Frans Dhlamini at the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court, that she was defenceless. She also told the court that she was not aware that her passport, which was declared invalid after she was arrested in Tanzania, was not valid. 

Dhlamini also said it has now been established by the Free State High Court that her deportation from Tanzania by members of SAPS and Home Affairs was a disguised extradition. Magudumana said a friend has offered her a place to stay in Gauteng and she is willing to pay an amount of R10 000 if she is granted bail.

Nandipha Magudumana and Thabo Bester held hands in court. Photo: Screengrab

She faces a string of charges including, fraud, corruption, aiding, abetting, and violating a dead body. The state is opposing bail. She is accused of having aided her convicted boyfriend to escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre under the guard of the British Security Company G4S in May 2022. Bester is said to have lived a lavish lifestyle in Johannesburg before he fled. He was ultimately re-arrested in April 2023.

Magudumana has been in custody for almost four months after she was arrested by the Free State Serious Organised Crime Unit on 13 April 2023. She has since exercised her right to apply for bail after she previously reserved it. She instead took the matter of her arrest in Tanzania to the Free State High Court where her bid failed twice. Her bail application is set for two days.

Legal expert in criminal matters Thabo Molete from Molete Attorneys said that given all that has happened in the case with Magudumana, her argument is likely to convince the magistrate to grant her bail. He said her right to freedom outweighs the interest of justice.

"We are of the view that the state is going to oppose bail. The state will be relying on provision 60(4) of the Criminal Procedure Act, wherein they will be saying that it's not in the best interest of justice that she be granted bail. They might say she is a flight risk and she is going to evade the trial and she is not suitable to be granted bail." 

She is among 12 suspects arrested for aiding Bester to escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022. Nine suspects, including accused 1, Senohe Matsoara, are out on R10 000 bail. It is only Magudumana, Bester, and an illegal immigrant from Zimbabwe Zando Moyo who remain in custody.

The bail argument will continue from 14:00. The prosecutor Sello Matlhoko requested an adjournment from Magistrate Estelle de Lange after the defence introduced new information. 

A state witness and police officer attached to the provincial organised crime unit, is set to submit his affidavit for the state in a bid to oppose Magudumana's bail.

OFM News