False story: Controversial awaiting-trial prisoner Nandipha Magudumana was not released from South African jail to attend her mother's funeral
IN SHORT: After news broke of her mother's death, the rumour that the former celebrity doctor would be released from jail to attend the funeral began circulating on social media. But the authorities and Nandipha Magudumana's family have rubbished the claims, and an image linked with the story appears to be a fabrication.
In late March 2026, the claim that Nandipha Magudumana had been "temporarily released from prison" to attend the funeral of her mother began circulating on social media in South Africa. Magudumana is a high-profile alleged criminal awaiting trial on various charges.
The posts appeared across Facebook, along with an image apparently showing a smiling Magudumana waving to cheering supporters outside the Kgoši Mampuru II Management Area, a prison formerly known as Pretoria Central Prison in Gauteng province, northeastern South Africa.
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(Note: See more versions of the post at the end of this report.)
Some posts also said she had been released to plan or prepare for the funeral. Another went further, posting the image and simply claiming Magudumana had "finally" been released from prison, excluding any mention of temporary release. But all the posts are inaccurate. Here's how we know.
Magudumana's alleged role in prison escape
Magudumana is a former doctor who built a career in aesthetic medicine, along with a large following on social media. In 2023, she was arrested in Tanzania alongside Thabo Bester, a convicted rapist and murderer with whom she reportedly ran companies linked to construction scams.
Magudumana faces charges linked to Bester's 2022 escape from Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein. After a fire broke out in Bester's jail cell, leaving behind an unidentifiable burned body, he was presumed dead.
But soon afterwards, investigative news agency GroundUp published an article pointing to various inconsistencies in the story of Bester's apparent death in prison. Then photos surfaced of a couple who resembled Bester and Magudumana, taken in a Johannesburg supermarket. GroundUp led the investigative reporting that pieced together the prison escape.
Magudumana has since been held awaiting trial at the Bizzah Makhate Correctional Services in the Free State province. Various delays have meant that the trial for Bester, as well as Magudumana and others accused of helping him escape, is only due to begin in July 2026.
In May 2025, Magudumana lost an appeal relating to her arrest in Tanzania, which her legal team claimed had been unlawful. The judgment concluded that she would remain in prison and face the charges she has been accused of.
Mother's death and funeral claims
In late March 2026, news articles reported the death of Magudumana's mother, Nokuzola Sikeleni. One article by Sunday World featured a quote, apparently from Magudumana's brother, saying the family planned to "apply for [Nandipha] to be able to attend the funeral".
Another article was headlined: "Inmate Nandipha Magudumana may receive compassionate leave for mother's funeral." The ambiguous headline differs from the body of the article, which does not claim to have evidence of this. Instead, it mentions the general legal process for requesting compassionate leave.
The article also confirmed that funeral arrangements had begun, and that Magudumana's lawyer had said she would receive psychological support.
These articles may have sparked the rumour that Magudumana had been temporarily released for the funeral.
Dodgy image, even dodgier claim
Despite the claim being widely circulated, along with an image that looks like a legitimate photo of Magudumana, both are fabrications. Importantly, the Department of Correctional Services itself debunked the claim via its official Facebook account.
On 28 March, the department posted a screenshot of one of the posts that included the claim along with the supposed photo of Magudumana. The screenshot was captioned "Warning: Fake News Alert" and had a "FAKE NEWS" stamp pasted across the image.
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Multiple articles by reputable news outlets then reported the debunk, and confirmed that the family had officially denied it had requested temporary leave for Magudumana.
It appears this leave would not have been possible anyway. While temporary compassionate leave is sometimes granted for convicted offenders, this does not apply to those still awaiting trial, a spokesperson for the correctional services department told eNCA.
The image posted with the claim is also suspicious. Magudumana and the people in the background look a little too perfect, which is a hallmark of an image having been created or manipulated using an artificial intelligence, or AI, tool. If something looks too good to be true, it usually is.
Furthermore, the facility she seems to be leaving is located in Gauteng - not in the Free State, where Magudumana is being held.
But more definitively, we ran a reverse image search for the image, and Google's About this image feature indicated that it had been "made with Google AI". This is clear evidence an AI tool was used.
