Johannesburg - Crime experts say that Dr Nandipha Magudumana may evade justice if granted bail.
Today marks the second day for Magudumana, the girlfriend of convicted rapist and killer Thabo Bester, who applied for bail in a bid to be free.
She has been kept at a Kroonstad correctional facility since her arrest in April.
Appearing in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court yesterday, Magudumana claimed Bester kidnapped her out of South Africa.
A weeping Magudumana declined to take the stand and exercised her right to remain silent, only offering an affidavit to the court that claimed her lover, Bester, forced her into a vehicle before they escaped the country by vehicle.
She plans to plead not guilty.
She wants bail to be free, stating that she can afford bail of R10 000 and would stay with a close friend. However, the state is opposing her bail, saying she is facing fraud cases amounting to millions against her.
Magudumana’s claim that she was forced by Bester is a sharp contrast to the display of affection that was seen in the dock earlier this month when the two met at the same court.
They smiled and held each other’s hands.
Chad Thomas, a veteran organised and financial crime investigator from IRS Forensic Investigations, said in respect of this bail application that she was now alluding to the fact that she may have been taken out of the country against her will, which would be abduction; which means that when she was taken into custody by the SAPS working together with their Tanzanian counterparts, she would have obviously expressed a sense of relief. She would have been taken away from her abductor; she would have been saved or rescued in some manner.
"But instead, we saw the bizarre application she brought against both the SAPS and Tanzania authorities, stating that they in fact had kidnapped her; it seems that we have this kidnapping narrative playing out whenever it suits her.
“But one can't escape the fact that what we saw in court very recently with her and Bester was very much a so-called Romeo and Juliet star-crossed lovers situation, where they were sitting there, making eyes at one another. And I do believe that this is just another manner in which she’s tried to obtain bail, and of course, she’s trying to pervert the course of justice,” Thomas said.
He said one needed to understand that bail should never be regarded as a punishment; it was there to ensure that someone came back to court.
“This lady has left the country; she has been part of an organised crime structure that put together a daring and audacious plan to assist in the escape of somebody from a maximum security prison. So I do agree with the State’s contention that she could evade arrest; she knows how to leave the country; she presents a massive risk,” Thomas said.
This was Magudumana’s first time applying for bail; on other occasions, she opted not to.
She also had a matter at the Free State High Court where she wanted the court to declare her arrest in Tanzania unlawful. She claimed that South African authorities abducted her; the matter was dismissed with costs.
The pair were nabbed in Arusha, Tanzania, in April this year while escaping from south Africa, following news reports that Bester made a daring escape from the Mangaung Correctional Facility, which is run by G4S security company.
Investigating officer Lieutenant-Colonel Tieho Flyman, who is attached to the Free State Organised Crime Unit in Bloemfontein, said Magudumana was a mastermind, alongside Bester, in the conspiracy to aid Bester escape. He said they were both signatories to multiple properties rented in Hyde Park and River Club and acted in unison.
Other accused in the Bester saga are former G4S prison warder Senohe Matsoara, Zanda Moyo, Zolile Cornelius Sekeleni, former Integritron Integrated Solutions camera technician Teboho Lipholo, suspended G4S employee Tieho Frans Makhotsa, former G4S guard Buti Masukela, suspended G4S employee Natassja Jansen, and G4S employees Joel Makhetha, Moeketsi Ramolula and Thabang Mier, who were granted bail of R10 000.
The Star