The legality of Nandipha Magudumana’s extradition from Tanzania to South Africa will come under scrutiny in the Constitutional Court of South Africa on Thursday.
Magudumana, the disgraced doctor at the centre of one of South Africa’s most high-profile criminal cases, is contesting the manner in which she was returned to the country alongside her partner and alleged accomplice, Thabo Bester.
The couple was arrested in Arusha in April 2023 after fleeing South Africa following Bester’s dramatic escape from Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022.
Supreme Court Of Appeal Rejected Nandipha Magudumana’s Bid
Magudumana took her extradition challenge to the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa in 2025, but the court dismissed her application.
The SCA found that she had failed to prove that South African police acted unlawfully in bringing her back to the country.
The court accepted the explanation from the South African Police Service that Magudumana was arrested in Tanzania by local authorities for contravening immigration laws.
According to the ruling, SAPS only formally arrested Magudumana and Bester once they landed in South Africa.
Dissenting Judge Questioned Tanzania Handover Process
In a dissenting judgment, SCA Justice Tati Moffat Makgoka raised concerns about how Magudumana was handed over by Tanzanian police to South African authorities.
The Department of Home Affairs has maintained that the transfer took place under an agreement between the two countries.
Makgoka ruled that there is no international law procedure that stipulates a fugitive can simply be handed over, adding that the agreement between the two countries was unlawful.
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Relying on this dissenting opinion, Magudumana is now asking the Constitutional Court to declare her arrest and return to South Africa unlawful.
The court’s ruling could have significant implications for one of South Africa’s most closely watched criminal cases.
