Prosecution to oppose Dr Nandipha‘s bail application. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has stated that it will contest Dr. Nandipha Magudumana’s and two of her co-accused’s bail requests.

Magudumana made an appearance before the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court on Monday alongside her father Zolile Sekeleni, former G4S jail warden Senohe Matsoara, and former CCTV technician Teboho Lipholo.

Sekeleni was granted R10,000 bail.

Free State NPA spokesperson Phaladi Shuping: “The state decided not to oppose the bail application of accused number two [Sekeleni] and he was granted bail. In respect of the other accused, all parties will be available on the 3rd and 4th of May and the state will be opposing the bail of the other three accused. “We normally wait for the bail application and present reasons then.”

He said the state did not oppose Sekeleni’s bail application because of his deteriorating healthcondition. “The health of the old man, currently he is on medication, and it is not in the best interests of justice for us to oppose bail,” said Shuping.

Prosecution to oppose Dr Nandipha’s bail application

Magudumana is accused of killing someone, helping someone escape from prison, mutilating corpses, and defrauding people.

In court, state attorney Sello Matlhoko asked the judge to order Magudumana to take off her sweatshirt and N95 mask so that the court could see her face.

“The court itself must be satisfied with the identity [of the accused]. We might find that’s not the [right] person. But the court needs to be satisfied that it is indeed the person being charged,” said Matlhoko.

Magudumana then briefly revealed her face and confirmed she was present.

When word got out that Thabo Bester had faked his own death from prison in May of last year, Magudumana and her murderer and rapist lover left the country.

Two weeks ago, Tanzanian police detained them along with Zacharia Alberto, a citizen of Mozambique.

Magudumana was discovered to be in possession of multiple passports, but none of them had the proper border crossing stamps to indicate that she had left South Africa legally.

Authorities believed they had intended to depart Tanzania because they said they were apprehended around 10 km from the Kenyan border.

In March, Magudumana and Bester left their leased house in Hyde Park, Johannesburg.

In March, the Sowetan reported that hours before a fire broke out in cell 35 where Bester was being held, a wooden kist thought to be transporting a body was pushed into the G4S-run Mangaung Correctional Centre.

This has been verified by authorities.

According to Sowetan, the 1.3-meter-long piece of furniture was moved to the prison’s woodwork shop under the guise of being repaired when it was unloaded about 5 p.m. on May 2.

The fire started on May 3, and DNA tests revealed that the burned body was not Bester’s because it was already dead when the fire started.