WATCH | Thabo Bester, Dr Magudumana lose bid to block Netflix documentary

Convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester and his partner Dr. Nandipha Magudumana have lost their last-minute court bid with costs to stop Netflix from airing Beauty and the Bester documentary.

The film focuses on Bester’s daring escape from Mangaung maximum security prison and their arrest in Tanzania.

Pretoria high court judge Sulet Potterill removed both applications that were brought to her by Bester and Magudumana on an urgent basis.

Potterill's reason for striking Magudumana's urgent application off the roll is that the urgency was 'self-created'. She said Magudumana knew as early as August that Netflix intended to air its documentary in September, but only chose to file court papers this week.

“I find that the application is not urgent and is struck of the roll,” she said.

On Bester's application, Potterill said he can have redress should he feel aggrieved by the contents of the documentary which is meant to air from Friday, September 12. 

“I am therefore satisfied that this application did not comply with rule 612 in that it did not address substantial redress and, in fact, there is substantial redress in due course. For that reason, this matter is struck of the roll and the applicant will carry the cost,” Potterill said.

Bester and his alleged accomplice, Magudumana, approached the court on an urgent basis to interdict and restrain Netflix from releasing, streaming, advertising, or publishing the documentary, which centres on their alleged crimes.

On Thursday Adv Benjamin MoAfrika wa Maila representing Bester, argued that airing the documentary would prejudice his client, infringe on his constitutional rights to a fair trial, dignity, and the presumption of innocence, and that it is defamatory.

He said that even if the criminal trial is concluded and Bester is acquitted, he would still be assumed guilty by the public because of the documentary.

Reading Bester’s affidavit Adv MoAfrika wa Maila said: “I respectfully submit that there is no amount of money that will make people unhear that ‘Thabo Bester faked his death and escaped from prison,’ or the fact that I am being stripped of my humanity and portrayed as a ‘beast’ in this documentary – a fact inferred from the title of the documentary itself, which is adapted from the popular movie Beauty and the Beast.

“Additionally, no damages in due course will make people unhear or unsee the one-sided allegations being made in the documentary.

“I believe that any reasonable viewer will conclude that I am inhuman and guilty as portrayed, and would not be disabused of such views simply because I later successfully bring a claim for damages.”

He said that Netflix has manipulated Bester’s story judging from the 30 seconds trailer which has been released and the manipulation would result in serious defamation. 

Netflix, in its court papers, argued that if the documentary was not broadcast, it would suffer financial loss, reputational damage, and subscriber backlash, among other things.

Adv Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, representing Netflix told the court on Thursday that the documentary focuses on information already in the public domain and it would be astonishing if media is prohibited from repeating information that is already out.

“It collates and presents material that has long been in the public domain through investigative journalism, court proceedings, parliamentary debate, the work of correctional oversight bodies, and social media,” he said.

“The allegations about Bester’s staged death in prison, his escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022, and his subsequent arrest with Dr Magudumana in Tanzania in April 2023 have been extensively reported by multiple media outlets.”

Ngcukaitobi also revealed that Magudumana was paid for her archive material that forms part of the documentary.

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