The National Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) has confirmed that Nandipha Magudumana faces a serious, Schedule 5 criminal offence.

This after her lawyers on a number of occasions disputed that Magudumana is facing a Schedule 5 offence, instead claiming she is facing a Schedule 1 offence.

Adv. Machini Motloung on Monday stated that the confirmatory notice by DPP further brings confusion to the matter. Adv. Motloung said the state's affidavit and charge contradict each other. The defence lawyers argue that the amount involved in the matter, which is alleged that it was paid to another accused by Magudumana, is being misrepresented. Motloung said it was in the best interest of justice to release Magudumana on bail. He largely dealt with section 60 subsection 4, which deals with the bail system. 

Meanwhile, the state has reiterated the suspect faces a Schedule 5 offence and evidence has been led to that effect. State prosecutor Sello Matlhoko said Magudumana has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she deserves to be released on bail. Matlhoko said she even failed to take the court into her confidence about how her boyfriend and suspect in the matter Thabo Bester kidnapped her out of the country to Tanzania.  

Adv. Machini Motloung, representing Nandipha Magudamana, insisted the suspect is facing a Schedule 1 offence. Photo: Lucky Nkuyane 

In his affidavit, a state witness said that Magudumana fetched Bester from KwaZulu-Natal after he made a daring escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre.  

She and Bester rented a place where they made renovations and also had security personnel. Later on, Magudumana and Bester fled the country via Zimbabwe and were arrested in Arusha, Tanzania, in transit to Kenya. They were then brought back to the country in April 2023 where she appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court and was remanded in custody.

Bester was then transferred to the Kgosi Mampuru Maximum Centre in Pretoria.

Magudumana 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.

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