Home Affairs Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, says he wants the court application lodged by Dr Nandipha Magudumana’s attorneys to be struck off from the urgent court roll.
This after the department had through media reports discovered that there is an urgent court application launched by Dr Magudumana in Bloemfontein challenging her arrest in Tanzania, saying it was unlawful.
At a media briefing held in Pretoria, Motsoaledi said the department’s Director-General had discovered that the Minister in the court papers was not cited as the respondent in the matter.
“The Director-General only managed to access the court papers yesterday late in the afternoon. He was shocked to discover that the DHA and I were not cited as respondents in that matter,” Motsoaledi said.
This, according to Motsoaledi, is despite the fact that on 15 May 2023, there were exchange of correspondence between the Director- General and Motloung INC, attorneys of record for Dr Magudumana.
“The Director-General immediately addressed a letter dated 21 May 2023 to her attorneys raising objection to the non-joinder of the DHA and I and demanded that the ill-advised application be removed from the urgent roll,” Motsoaledi said.
In the court papers, Dr Magudumana is challenging the manner in which she was arrested, saying she was unlawfully arrested and abducted.
“Dr Nandipha Magudumana and Thabo Bester were declared prohibited immigrants in terms of the immigration laws of Tanzania and were therefore as a matter of law, accountable to be deported back to their country of origin.
“I am outlining all these steps because the matters in question are of huge public interest and the DHA has a constitutional duty to comply to the principles of accountability and transparency,” the Minister said.
Dr Magudumana and Thabo Bester was arrested in Tanzania after they had fled the country illegally to Tanzania.
They are currently on trial at the Bloemfontein Magistrate court.
Thabo Bester, known as the “Facebook Rapist,” was serving a life sentence for rape and murder at the Mangaung Correctional Centre, a private prison managed by multinational security company G4S. – SAnews.gov.za
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