Disgraced Dr Nandipha Magudumana has opened a case of common assault against the Correctional Services Department.
This is amid claiming she was beaten before being transported to court yesterday.
Magudumana alleges that she was assaulted at the Bizzah Makhate Correctional Centre in Kroonstad, Free State.
She has been in custody at that facility for seven months now, though at a wing of the hospital areas, for her safety.
The case was opened yesterday as she was expected to appear at the Bloemfontein Magistrates alongside her boyfriend, convicted killer Thabo Bester, her father Zolile Sekeleni and others. However, her lawyer told the media that Magidumana was not well.
Free State Police confirmed that Magudumana opened an assault case.
“We can confirm that on Wednesday, 11 October 2023, the police at Parkweg SAPS registered a case of Assault Common after Dr Nandipha Magudumana alleged that she was assaulted at Correctional Services detention facility in Kroostad”, said police,
Magudumana’s lawyer, advocate Machini Motloung, revealed that she collapsed and was naked and on the floor of a holding cell at Park Road Police station. Hence, she could not attend court proceedings due to ill health.
He said she was humiliated because she is ‘Dr Nandipha Magudumana’.
Speaking at court yesterday, Motloung said: “The doctor who treated her told me that Magudumana and other inmates were sick since Monday due to food poisoning”.
Appearing upset, Motloung said Magudumana was on the floor after collapsing due to ill-health at a nearby Park Road police station holding cells after being transported from Bizzah Makhate Correctional Centre, which is about two hours from the court.
He said Magudumana’s rights and dignity are being violated.
Magudumana and Bester were arrested in Arusha, Tanzania, in April this year. The pair escaped South Africa after news broke that the rapist had escaped from the Mangaung Correctional facility in May last year.
Magudumana went to the High Court in Bloemfontein in an attempt to be released from prison after claiming that SAPS authorities deported her to the country under false pretences; she lost the case with costs.
She also went to court applying for bail, and claimed that Bester kidnapped her in March this year and took her to Tanzania. However, the magistrate was not convinced, she denied Magudumana bail.
Since her arrest she has complained about being kidnapped, assaulted and food poisoning.
Meanwhile, a pre-trial date was set for February 21, 2024, for the case of unlawful escape by Bester. A total of nine suspects are expected to appear.