Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magudumana have lost their interdict to halt Netflix from releasing their documentary, Beauty and the Bester.
The three-part series – which recounts never-before-seen footage of the criminal couple – will air at 09:00 on Friday, 12 September.
The duo is facing charges of orchestrating Bester’s 2022 prison escape, defrauding the public, and violating multiple bodies. The couple fled the country in early 2023 and were later detained in Tanzania before being repatriated to South Africa.
Their trial is set to begin on 10 November at the Bloemfontein High Court.
THABO BESTER, NANDIPHA LOSE INTERDICT TO HALT NETFLIX DOCCIE
On Friday, 12 September – minutes after the scheduled release of Beauty and the Bester – the Gauteng High Court dismissed Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magudumana’s separate applications to halt the production.
Judge Sulet Potterill stated that Nandipha’s last-minute application was “wholly unreasonable” and “without merit.”
She added that information about the couple was already in the public domain, as heard via court proceedings and the former couple’s bail application.
Poterill struck both Bester and Nandipha’s applications off the roll, and the duo has been ordered to pay the legal costs.
In his court documents, Thabo Bester “strongly disputes the accuracy, fairness, and legitimacy” of the docuseries.
He added that Netflix production would hinder his “right to dignity, privacy and a fair trial”.
Last year, Bester and Magudumana failed to halt the broadcast of Showmax’s Tracking Thabo Bester, which delved into the GroundUp investigation surrounding his 2022 prison escape and the sequence of events thereafter.
HOW TO WATCH ‘BEAUTY AND THE BESTER’
Beauty and the Bester is a three-part docuseries set to air at 09:00 on 12 September.
Unlike Showmax’s Tracking Thabo Bester, which focused on the convicted rapist, murderer, and fraudster, the Netflix limited series will focus on Nandipha Magudumana’s rise and dramatic fall from successful businesswoman to standing trial for a slew of criminal charges.
The former celebrity aesthetics doctor is accused of aiding Bester’s 2022 prison escape from the Magaung Correctional Centre. She is also charged with fronting his various fraudulent businesses.
Nandipha – who is the wife of Dr Mkhuseli Magudumana, whom she has two daughters with – reportedly harboured Bester in her Hyde Park home.
After being spotted in public in early 2023 and setting off alarm bells, the couple fled the country to Tanzania, where they were later arrested.
According to Netflix, Beauty and the Bester features never-before-seen investigative material and exclusive interviews, including one with Nandipha’s father, Zolile Sekeleni, who is also facing criminal charges alongside the duo.
WILL YOU BE WATCHING ‘BEAUTY AND THE BEAST’?
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