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Deportation appeal of Thabo Bester co-accused dismissed, trial to go ahead

Deportation appeal of Thabo Bester co-accused dismissed, trial to go ahead

The Citizen16-05-2025

Deportation appeal of Thabo Bester co-accused dismissed, trial to go ahead
Dr Nandipha Magudumana, who faces 38 counts alongside co-accused Thabo Bester – known as The Facebook Rapist – will remain in South Africa.
This after the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) dismissed the deportation appeal in its judgment delivered on Friday (today).
ALSO READ: Thabo Bester saga referenced in KwaMsane bail hearing
Magudumana and Bester were arrested in Tanzania in April 2023 after fleeing the country following Bester's escape from the Mangaung Correctional Facility.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Advocate Mthunzi Mhaga said the pair face charges ranging from fraud, corruption, money laundering, assisting an inmate to escape, violation of the body, arson, and defeating the ends of justice.
'The NPA is committed to ensuring justice is not only served, but manifestly seen to be done because of the alleged crimes' impact on the rule of law and the victims,' said Mhanga.
The NPA's prosecution team will now focus on ensuring the trial, set down for 21 July to 19 September before the Free State Division of the High Court in Bloemfontein, proceeds without any unreasonable delay.
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