Dr Nandipha Magudumana accused the South African government of breaking international laws in pulling off the Tanzania arrest in a court showdown set for a dramatic conclusion next week.
Dr Nandipha presents her case on why she was ‘abducted’ in Tanzania
In a significant development, Magudumana’s legal team presented arguments at the Bloemfontein High Court on Thursday, challenging the circumstances surrounding her arrest and subsequent deportation from Tanzania.
The disgraced doctor’s counsel, led by renowned international law advocate Anton Katz SC, insisted that her deportation was, in fact, an extradition concealed under the guise of deportation.
Katz argued that her deportation constituted a covert extradition facilitated through collusion between the authorities in South Africa and Tanzania.
According to Katz, the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) maintained that Tanzania had issued a deportation decision on 12 April 2023, which mandated Dr Magudumana to leave the country within three days.
However, Katz contended that this deportation was actually an orchestrated extradition, and there was no unilateral action by Tanzania since there existed an agreement to deport her to South Africa.
“The conduct of the respondents can be best described as a disguised extradition. Tanzania did not act independently, as there was an agreement in place to deport her to South Africa,” stated Katz.
Katz further argued that Dr Magudumana had no entitlement to place herself beyond the borders of Tanzania within the prescribed three-day period.
Instead, she was handed over to South African officials who assumed custody of her. Katz emphasised that the underlying purpose of her deportation was to secure her presence in South Africa for criminal trial proceedings, akin to the objectives of an extradition process.
Furthermore, Katz maintained that the South African authorities had erroneously followed an incorrect procedure. Rather than pursuing an extradition process, they chose to arrange Dr Magudumana’s deportation in collaboration with Tanzania.
This, according to Katz, represented a failure to adhere to the appropriate mechanism for securing the presence of a wanted individual in South Africa.
“The respondents acted in a procedurally irrational manner by opting for an agreement to deport the applicant instead of initiating the proper extradition process,” Katz asserted.
Home Affairs, SAPS rubbish Dr Nandipha’s claims
Responding to the onslaught of accusations from Magudumana’s bench, Advocate Neil Snellenburg for the South African police, and Home Affairs representative Advocate Petrus Joubert Zietsman, wholly rubbished the notion Dr Nandipha was ‘abducted’ under false pretences as an abuse of the legal process.
Snellenburg saw no urgency in Magudumana’s application. He insisted that necessary precautions were taken to escort Magudumana back to South Africa, who, by the way, was in the company of a convicted murderer and rapist.
According to Snellenburg, Magudumana, as a matter of fact, ‘hitched a ride’ back to South Africa, as evidence exists that suggests the disgraced doctor was in a desperate search for a way home.
Advocate Zietsman supplemented Snellenburg’s assertions with document evidence showing the process authorities from both countries took to formally deport Magudumana back to South Africa.
According to the documents, which you can see below, an official notice from the Tanzanian government, stamped on 12 April 2023, ordered Thabo Bester and Magudumana “to leave Tanzania within three days by escort.”
In another document dated 13 April 2023, the South African high commission in Tanzania handed over Bester and Magudumana, identified with their respective ID numbers, “to the South African Immigration Officials who are here to collect the undesirable person who entered the Republic of Tanzania unlawfully.”
Both responding lawyers stressed that South Africa’s involvement in detaining Bester and Magudumana started when the pair landed on South African soil, at Lanseria Airport.
When will the court rule on Dr Nandipha Tanzania arrest?
The Bloemfontein High Court will deliberate on the matter and consider all heads of argument submitted on Thursday.
At this juncture, the final judgment on the nature of Dr Nandipha’s Tanzania arrest will be handed down on Monday, 5 June 2023. If the judge leans toward Magudumana’s favour, it’s believed the doctor will, in all likelihood, seek a complete withdrawal of all charges.
Magudumana, however, is still due in court alongside her lover, Bester, her father Zolile Sekeleni and the other accused suspects, on Tuesday, 20 June 2023.
