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South Africa: Thabo Bester Saga - Court Dismisses Magudumana's Application for Leave to Appeal
GroundUp, 18 July 2023
Judge finds Nandipha's appeal has no reasonable prospect for success Read more »
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South Africa: Thabo Bester Escape - Dr Nandipha Says She Did Not Consent to Her Extradition
GroundUp, 14 July 2023
"She wanted to come home, she came home," argues police advocate Read more »
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South Africa: Thabo Bester Escape - State Expects to Call About 18 Witnesses
GroundUp, 11 July 2023
Another accused is granted bail of R10,000 Read more »
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South Africa: Thabo Bester Saga - Bail Granted to Three More Accused
GroundUp, 6 July 2023
Judge rules they are not a flight risk and unlikely to interfere with witnesses Read more »
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South Africa: Thabo Bester Escape - Court Grants R10,000 Bail to One of Three Suspended Prison Officers
GroundUp, 3 July 2023
Two other accused will return to court on 11 July for formal bail applications Read more »
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South Africa: Three More Arrested in Thabo Bester Saga
Scrolla, 28 June 2023
Three more suspects, all G4S employees, were arrested on Monday evening, according to a statement on Tuesday from national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe. Read more »
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South Africa: Bester Case Postponed
Scrolla, 20 June 2023
The trial of Thabo Bester has been postponed until August to allow for additional investigations. Read more »
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South Africa: Ninth Suspect in Thabo Bester Escape Appears in Court
GroundUp, 13 June 2023
Zanda Moyo will join eight others in the criminal trial on 20 June Read more »
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South Africa: Investigator in Thabo Bester Escape Case Dies
Scrolla, 5 June 2023
In a shocking development, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has confirmed the untimely death of one of the investigators involved in the high-profile Thabo Bester escape… Read more »
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South Africa: SAPS Confirms Death of Senior Investigator
SAPS, 5 June 2023
The National Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), General Fannie Masemola sadly confirms the death of one of the investigators into the Thabo Bester escape… Read more »
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South Africa: Judge Rejects Dr Nandipha Magudumana's Urgent Bid for Freedom
GroundUp, 5 June 2023
But the state made mistakes and almost lost the case Read more »
South Africa's Thabo Bester Case - News From Court
Nandipha Magudumana's application for leave to appeal a High Court ruling that she had consented to return to South Africa, has been dismissed with costs, GroundUp reports.
In May 2023, Magudumana asked the court to declare her arrest in Tanzania and extradition to South Africa unlawful. She was arrested alongside escaped convict Thabo Bester and currently faces several charges relating to the escape. On June 5, Judge Phillip Loubser found that Magudumana had indeed been extradited without process, but that she had consented to board the chartered plane that brought her back to South Africa.
Magudumana then lodged an application for leave to appeal in the Supreme Court of Appeal. She wanted the SCA to test whether she could have consented to an unlawful extradition. On Tuesday July 18, Judge Loubser dismissed her application, finding that it has no reasonable prospect of success.
At least 18 witnesses have been called to testify in the state's court case into Thabo Bester's escape, the Bloemfontein Magistrates court heard on Tuesday July 12, 2023, GroundUp reports. To date, 12 people stand accused in the Bester escape saga and are expected to appear together in court on August 8. They face a total of 16 charges.
* Thabo Bester is a South African convicted criminal who escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Centre after faking his death in a fire in his prison cell in May 2022. He was on the run for almost a year before being caught in Arusha, Tanzania on April 8, 2023. He was arrested along with his partner and alleged accomplice, celebrity doctor Nandipha Magudumana.
InFocus
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A decision was handed down on Monday, May 29, 2023 in the bail hearing for five more accomplices of the eight people so far accused in the Thabo Bester prison escape< Read more »
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A prison escape, living the high life in Johanneburg, arrests in Tanzania - the saga of fugitive and convicted murderer-rapist Thabo Bester and his partner Dr Nandipha Magudumana ... Read more »
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A rapist and murderer who escaped after faking his death in a South African prison cell, then spent more than 10 months at liberty, has been arrested in Tanzania, two South African ... Read more »
Nandipha Magudumana appearing virtually from Kroonstad Prison with Magistrate Mohlolo Khabisi sitting in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Tuesday May 16, 2023.
