Nandipha Magudumana and Thabo Bester want to halt the release of Netflix’s ‘Beauty and The Bester’. Images via Instagram
Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magudumana have tried to stop another Netflix documentary, Beauty and The Bester, that focuses on their alleged romance and criminal activities.
The pair each filed an interdict at the Johannesburg High Court to block the three-part docuseries from airing next month.
They argue that the production violates their rights to privacy, dignity, and a fair trial. The former couple faces charges for orchestrating Bester’s 2022 prison escape, defrauding the public, and violating multiple regulatory bodies, with their trial scheduled to begin on 10 November at the Bloemfontein High Court.
In the latest development, Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magudumana filed separate interdicts this week at the Johannesburg High Court to stop Netflix from airing their docuseries Beauty and The Bester.
In Bester’s court documents, he “strongly disputes the accuracy, fairness, and legitimacy” of the docuseries. Bester also claimed that the production was “riddled with falsehoods, selective editing and unsubstantiated claims that are deliberately designed to evoke sensation”.
Thabo Bester’s legal bid added that Netflix production would hinder his “right to dignity, privacy and a fair trial”.
Last year, Bester and Magudumana tried but failed to stop Showmax from airing Tracking Thabo Bester, which explored the GroundUp investigation into his 2022 prison escape and the events that followed.
Beauty and the Bester is a three-part docuseries set to air on 12 September.
Unlike Showmax’s Tracking Thabo Bester, which highlighted the convicted rapist, murderer, and fraudster, Netflix’s limited series will spotlight Nandipha Magudumana’s rise and dramatic fall from a successful businesswoman to facing trial on multiple criminal charges.
Authorities accuse the former celebrity aesthetics doctor of aiding Bester’s 2022 prison escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre and of fronting his fraudulent businesses.
Nandipha, wife of Dr Mkhuseli Magudumana and mother of their two daughters, reportedly hid Bester in her Hyde Park home. After being spotted in public in early 2023 and raising suspicions, the couple fled to Tanzania, where authorities later arrested them.
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.
Another interview sees actress and TV personality Pearl Thusi speak about her brush with Bester.
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