Socialite doctor faces prison over accusations of part in South African killer’s jailbreak
Seated on a court bench this week, wearing a dowdy anorak and surgical face mask, Dr Nandipha Magudumana cut a sad, drab figure far from her glamorous media image.
Once lauded as a successful entrepreneur and an inspiring role model for women’s empowerment, rubbing shoulders with South Africa’s celebrities and socialites, the 33-year-old mother of two faces a lengthy jail sentence after being accused of playing a part in a prison break that has captivated the country.
Dr Magudumana was arrested in Tanzania earlier this month alongside Thabo Bester, a convicted killer said to have faked his death in a jail cell fire during an audacious prison escape.
The disclosure of Bester’s escape and his life on the run has led to accusations of official complicity, incompetence and cover-ups. He is alleged to have left the charred body of an unknown man in his cell to cover his tracks, with officials only publicly acknowledging the escape nearly a year later.
Yet among the case’s mysteries, none has attracted more attention than how a glamorous celebrity doctor came to be by his side and now faces charges of helping his escape.
Dr Magudumana is due in court on Monday, where prosecutors have said she faces charges of aiding and abetting the escape, as well as murder, violation of bodies and also fraud.
Her father, Zolile Sekeleni, and Senohe Matsoara, a former G4S prison employee, have both already been charged with murder and aiding the escape. Dr Magudumana has described herself as a small-town girl from South Africa’s south coast.
She was born in Bizana, a village in the Eastern Cape province, but her family moved to KwaZulu Natal when she was young. Interested in health matters, she began working part time at a pharmacy when she was 15.
In 2013, she married Mkhuseli Magudumana, a paediatrician with a practice in Benoni, a short drive east of Johannesburg.
The couple had two daughters. For months after Bester’s escape, he and Dr Magudumana, whom police identified as his “accomplice,” are alleged to have lived in a mansion in a wealthy Johannesburg suburb, driving luxury cars while reportedly running a company that allegedly defrauded businesses out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Dr Magudumana appeared in court on Thursday and her case was adjourned. She is due to appear again on Monday.
