Nandipha Magudumana takes fight for freedom to Constitutional Court
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Dr Nandipha Magudumana is taking her fight for freedom to the Constitutional Court.
Magudumana, is accused of helping Thabo Bester escape prison and later, escape from South Africa to Tanzania in 2023. The pair were arrested and brought back to South Africa.
On May 16, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) dismissed her appeal to have her arrest and deportation declared unlawful. Magudumana, Bester and their co-accused face up to 38 charges including fraud, corruption, money laundering, arson, and defeating the ends of justice.
Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, Magudumana's lawyer, Machini Motloung, said following the SCA judgment, he scheduled a consultation with Magudumana where a decision was taken to approach the Constitutional Court for an application for leave to appeal the majority judgment.
At the heart of the legal battle, Motloung explained, is common cause that, in terms of the judgment, the South African authorities acted unlawfully by bringing Magudumana back to South Africa "as a disguised extradition."
He said the court further made a conclusion of law that Magudumana had consented, as evidenced by her statement to the police at the time of her arrest, in which she expressed a desire to return home.
"How she is deemed to have consented could not pass the constitutional master that one cannot consent to an illegality. That is central to the argument. There are other factors in the majority judgment that we are dealing with extensively that we do not agree to, hence we are approaching the court for relief," Motloung said.
Motloung explained that the relief they are seeking is to have Magudumana's further detention declared unlawful and set aside.
He said Magudumana is hopeful that justice will be served.
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