Dr Nandipha Magudumana threw her lover under the proverbial bus on Tuesday as she fought for her right to be granted bail.
Magudumana is accused of aiding and abetting in the escape of convicted Facebook rapist and murderer, Thabo Bester — she is the fourth accused in an 11-person line-up implicated in Bester's escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre and subsequent evasion attempt from police which led to their arrests in Tanzania earlier this year.
On day one of her two-day bail application, the 34-year-old medical doctor and mother of two broke down while her affidavit for why she should be granted bail, was read out.
She said on March 17, Bester forced her into a vehicle and she was taken out of South Africa against her will.
Magudumana further stated in her affidavit that she did not know Bester had taken hold of her travel documents and only found out when police searched their vehicle the day of the arrest.
Nandipha then invoked her right to remain silent on her plans for defence in the trial.
Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, legal analyst Nthabiseng Dubazana, explained that in this instance, the court would have to determine if there is a prima facie case against Magudumana and whether it is in the best interests of justice to be granted bail.
She added that it was interesting to note that Magudumana did not divulge the allegations of her kidnap by Bester in her appeal of her arrest and the process of how she was brought back to South Africa.
Regarding Magudumana's invocation of her right to remain silent, Dubazana said until Magudumana officially receives the full contents of the docket and charges against her, and she pleads, she can make admissions on what she wants to admit to against what the charges levelled against her are.
“At this stage, it is nothing more than her exercising her right to remain silent,” she said in the TV interview.
Dubazana said Magudumana's prospects of success (of her bail application) could have been negatively impacted by her application process because her affidavit mentioned her high court application.
“In that application, there is no mention that she left SA under duress. In that particular application, she mentions being brought back to the country illegally. That gives the impression that she had no intention of coming back,” Dubazana told Newzroom Afrika.
She added that Magudumana seems to be contradicting herself as to how she landed up in this situation.
“I don't think the prospects of success are high in this particular case based on the manner in which her different cases are being dealt with and the information coming out of them thereof,” Dubazana told the broadcaster.
Magudumana faces charges of aiding an escape, concealing and harbouring a fugitive, violating a body and fraud. She intends to plead not guilty.
Read here for everything we know about Thabo Bester’s escape and recapture along with who are the accused in the matter and what charges they face.
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