Nandipha Magudumana Takes ‘Disguised Extradition’ Case to Constitutional CourtJohannesburg – Dr Nandipha Magudumana is asking the Constitutional Court to rule that her removal from Tanzania was unlawful, arguing she was subjected to an extradition disguised as a deportation.
Her legal team will argue Thursday that Tanzanian authorities handed her over to South African High Commission officials in April 2023 without following proper extradition procedures. They say the process violated her constitutional rights and that South African courts lack jurisdiction to prosecute her.
Magudumana and convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester were arrested in Arusha in April 2023 after being found in Tanzania illegally. Tanzanian authorities declared her a prohibited immigrant and deported her. SAPS arrested her on arrival at Lanseria. She has since been held at Bizzah Makhate Correctional Centre in Kroonstad, facing 38 charges including fraud, corruption, money laundering, and assisting Bester’s escape from Mangaung Correctional Facility.
Lower courts split on consent that the “disguised extradition” argument was previously raised in the Free State High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal. The High Court found the handover lacked due process but ruled Magudumana consented to return to South Africa to be with her children, and dismissed her application. The SCA dismissed her appeal in May 2025, though a minority judgment supported her case.Magudumana now seeks a Constitutional Court ruling that her removal was unlawful, that her arrest and detention are invalid, and that she should be released. The State maintains she consented to return and that Tanzanian authorities acted independently in declaring her a prohibited immigrant.The court’s decision will determine whether her trial can proceed. It is scheduled to run from 21 July to 19 September 2025 in Bloemfontein.
