Dr Nandipha Magudumana, along with five others, appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court last week for their alleged role in the Thabo Bester escape saga. Picture: Timothy Bernard, African News Agency (ANA)
THE HOME Affairs Department is adamant that Dr Nandipha Magudumana was lawfully deported from Tanzania and not “abducted” or “kidnapped”, as she has claimed in her latest court bid to be released from prison.
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has confirmed that department officials were part of a multi-disciplinary delegation that went to Tanzania to bring Magudumana and Thabo Bester back to the country, after they were declared illegal immigrants there and were ordered to leave the country within three days.
He said there was nothing illegal about the process and that there was “something sinister” about the fact that Magudumana did not cite the Home Affairs Department or minister in the latest court papers - which Motsoaledi said they only managed to get their hands late on Sunday afternoon.
He said the department was only made aware of Magudumana’s court bid via media reports over the weekend and has since written to Magudumana’s lawyers insisting the department be cited in the case.
He said it was the same lawyers who wrote to the department requesting information about the deportation. He said the department wrote back on May 15 advising that they needed to apply via the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).
Magudumana is accused of helping convicted rapist and killer Bester escape from prison, but according to reports she wants the court to declare her arrest and "abduction" in Tanzania in April "wrong and unlawful".
According to eNCA, she also wants to be released from detention immediately and for a judge to declare all orders and warrants against her null and void.
At a media briefing on Monday, Motsoaledi said Magudumana and Bester were declared prohibited immigrants in terms the immigration laws of Tanzania and were therefore, as a matter of law, liable to be deported back to their country of origin.
He explained that in following the immigration laws, a chartered plane carrying immigration officers had to be sent two days after the first South African delegation landed in Tanzania. This was because Magudumana, Bester and a Mozambique national had to be handed over to immigration officers and not the police or army.
He said this was the correct order of processes that had to be followed in accordance with Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa’s immigration laws.
“I am outlining all these steps because the matters in question are of immense public interest and the DHA has a constitutional duty to adhere to the principles of accountability and transparency,” Motsoaledi said.
Motsoaledi also updated the media on the department’s extensive investigation which included interviewing the biological mother of Bester, who is named Meisie Maria Mabaso (born Bester).
The investigation also involved reviewing the birth records of Bester at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital and data stored in the Home Affairs systems. The outcome of the investigation revealed that Bester never applied for an identity card at age 16 as required in terms of the law.
Mostoaledi said Bester had been issued with an identity card last week and his name had now been entered into the National Population Register, thus ending many years of his status as an unidentifiable person.
Bester’s ID and birth certificate were shown to the media, with Bester’s permission.