{"id":15008,"date":"2025-09-11T19:31:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T19:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/15008\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T19:31:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T19:31:10","slug":"south-africas-thabo-bester-in-court-bid-to-block-release-of-nextflix-documentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/15008\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa’s Thabo Bester in court bid to block release of Nextflix documentary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pumza FihlaniSouthern Africa correspondent, Johannesburg<\/p>\n

\"GalloGallo Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Thabo Bester was dubbed the “Facebook rapist” as he lured his victims through the site<\/p>\n

One of South Africa’s most notorious rapists and murderers, Thabo Bester, has taken court action to block Netflix from broadcasting a documentary about his life – including how he allegedly faked his death and escaped from prison.<\/p>\n

His lawyers argued that Beauty and the Bester was defamatory, but the streaming giant defended its plan to release the three-part investigation. <\/p>\n

Bester’s partner, celebrity doctor Nandipha Magudumana, features in the documentary, having allegedly helped him escape. She is part of the court bid to halt the release.<\/p>\n

The High Court is expected to give its ruling about 30 minutes before the documentary’s planned release to a global audience on Friday. <\/p>\n

Bester was convicted in 2012 for the rape and murder of his model girlfriend Nomfundo Tyhulu. <\/p>\n

A year earlier, he was found guilty of raping and robbing two other women.<\/p>\n

Bester became known as the “Facebook rapist” for using the social networking site to lure his victims.<\/p>\n

He was serving a life sentence when he allegedly escaped from a maximum security prison in 2022. <\/p>\n

A fire broke out in prison, with the authorities finding a charred body that they thought was Bester’s. However, it turned out to be that of another person.<\/p>\n

Undetected for a year, Bester then allegedly lived under an alias in South Africa’s main city, Johannesburg, helped by his partner. <\/p>\n

The pair were arrested while on the run in the East African state of Tanzania in April 2023, and were deported. <\/p>\n

They are currently in custody, awaiting trial on several charges – including violating a corpse, defeating the ends of justice and fraud.<\/p>\n

They have not yet pleaded to the charges.<\/p>\n

\"GalloGallo Images\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Nandipha Magudumana, seen here in court in 2023, was a celebrity skin doctor<\/p>\n

Bester’s lawyer, Advocate Moafrika Wa Maila, said the documentary infringed his right to a fair trial. <\/p>\n

“There is not proof that he had escaped. He has not yet been convicted on this. There are many reasons why a person is no longer in prison, such as parole. The documentary is a kangaroo court,” he told the court, South Africa’s IOL news site reports.<\/p>\n

The advocate also argued that the documentary’s very name, Beauty and the Bester, was defamatory and was deliberately designed to cast his client as a “beast”, the local East Coast radio reports on its website.<\/p>\n

Netflix’s legal representative, Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, told the court that the three-part series gives victims a long-denied platform.<\/p>\n

“This documentary gives the victims of Thabo Bester a platform to be heard after years of silence. To silence the film is to silence them again,” Advocate Ngcukaitobi was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n

Judge Sulet Potterill asked Netflix when it intended to release the documentary, and said she would give her ruling shortly before then. <\/p>\n

Bester’s alleged escape made international headlines and sparked outrage in South Africa, which has one of the highest rates of sexual assault in the world.<\/p>\n

More BBC stories on South Africa:<\/p>\n

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