Cape Town – The Tanzanian High Commissioner to South Africa, Gaudence Milanzi, has reportedly said that more details regarding the contested arrest of Nandipha Magudumana in Tanzania will be revealed in court.
According to News24, Milanzi emphasised the collaboration between South Africa and Tanzania, and said that relevant individuals could confirm the circumstances of the arrest.
“The case is in the courts, and a lot of actual evidence will be revealed in court. I don’t want to conflict myself with what those in charge of the case might say.
“The good thing is that Thabo Bester is here and relevant people can confirm how he was arrested,” the report quoted Milanzi as saying.
Magudumana has approached the high court in Bloemfontein, alleging that she was forcibly abducted and blindfolded during her arrest before being taken to the airport.
She was arrested in April in Tanzania with her boyfriend Thabo Bester, a convicted rapist and murderer who had escaped from prison. She has been in custody since.
She is accused of aiding Bester’s escape from a correctional facility.
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“Presently I’m illegally detained at the Bizzah Makhate Correctional Centre in Kroonstad by the fifth respondent,” Magudumana said in her papers, according to Times Live.
She is seeking to have her arrest and detention declared wrongful and unlawful.
The court is expected to hear the case soon.
Meanwhile, Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi, has dismissed Magudumana’s claims, stating that both she and Bester were declared prohibited immigrants and were liable to be deported.
The minister also said that the Department of Home Affairs had received legal advice suggesting that there were strong grounds to revoke Magudumana’s passport.
“The department of Home Affairs has obtained legal advice that there are strong grounds to revoke the passport of Dr Nandipha Magudumana and that same action must be taken to that effect.
“The director general will be taking due legal process steps in terms of South African passports and travel documentation Act – Act number 4 of 1994… to revoke the passport issued to Dr Nandipha Magudumana on the 16th of February 2017 which is due to expire on the 15th of February 2027,” Motsoaledi said while briefing the media.
He said that the revocation was based on the belief that she no longer deserved to hold it.
The Department of Home Affairs plans to revoke the passport of Dr. Nandipha Magudumana. She’s been linked to Facebook rapist Thabo Bester and his escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre. #DStv403 #eNCA pic.twitter.com/6cJRXKq8I7
— eNCA (@eNCA) May 22, 2023
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
