Dr. Nandipha Magudumana has requested leave to appeal the dismissal of her application to have her arrest and return to South Africa declared unlawful and unconstitutional. Magudumana's application, launched in May, aimed to announce that she was unlawfully extradited to South Africa, along with escaped convict Thabo Bester, on 7 April. Magudumana argued that the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court did not have jurisdiction to try her on charges including fraud, aiding an escape, and violating dead bodies.
On 5 June, Judge Loubser found that Magudumana had indeed been extradited without process but that she had consented to board the chartered plane that brought her back to South Africa. Magudumana's advocate, Kessler Perumalsamy, argued that Magudumana could not have approved an unlawful act and that the requirements for informed consent were not met.
Advocate Neil Snellenberg, representing the South African Police Service (SAPS), argued that Magudumana had told everyone she wanted to go home to her children and that the law is often about logic. Schellenberg also argued that Magudumana's case has changed since the application was first launched and that the applicant's case has changed since the application was first launched.
Advocate Louis Pohl, representing the Department of Home Affairs, argued that Judge Loubser had correctly decided that the case should be heard on the evidence provided by the respondents, as Magudumana's version is that she consented to come back to South Africa. Pohl said the appeal would have no chance of success. Judge Loubser will decide whether to grant Magudumana leave to appeal on Tuesday, 18 July.
