Nandipha Magudumana and her lover, the prison escapee Thabo Bester, allegedly tried to cross into Zimbabwe with a luxury vehicle she had made only a handful of payments on.   

Cellphone footage of her, recorded without Magudumana’s knowledge, was taken in Morningside, Johannesburg, in March days before she and Bester fled from their R12m hideout in Hyde Park.

Bester has been on the run since his escape from Mangaung maximum security prison on May 3 2022 where he was serving life imprisonment.

The cellphone footage was taken by private investigators assigned to track her down in pursuit of R1.1m she owes a Durban-based luxury car dealer Devan Andrews.

At the time it was recorded, she had just signed an acknowledgment of debt for a R1.7m Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG.

It has since been discovered that the Mercedes-Benz was seized by Zimbabwe border authorities in January in what police sources say was an attempt by the couple to escape into that country.

It was driven by Magudumana, with Bester and another accomplice allegedly following close behind in another vehicle, believed to be a Range Rover registered in Magudumana’s name.

In the video Magudumana is told by one of three men sitting in a restaurant with her as she eats lunch that “no-one is fighting with you” and they are there to talk to her about how she will repay her outstanding debt.

“There is still a balance of R700,000 that you owe. You have paid R650,000 but how is the R700,000k going to be obtained?”

Another of the men, none of whom can be seen, says Andrews is willing to drop the case as long as he gets his R700,000.

“Devan wants things settled amicably. We cannot fetch the car from the border. It is a mission. Devan wants his money, which is fair. He helped you, he trusted you, [but] you went back on your word and have not paid in full.

“He [Andrews] just needs you to pay him the outstanding R700k and he will leave it, otherwise this will go onto social media. And you don’t want bad exposure for yourself and your business. Just pay the man.”

When the person asks whether they can come to an agreement, Magudumana says she “will speak to the person who Devan had an agreement with and let you know”.

When asked who that person is, Magudumana is evasive and says, “the person who Devan had an agreement with”.

TimesLIVE investigations is in possession of the agreement which was signed by Magudumana on May 10, a week after Bester’s escape.

Andrews, the owner of Carbon Black Auto in Durban, told TimesLIVE Investigations this week he had fallen “hook, line and sinker” for Bester and Magudumana’s con.

“It was a proper sob story they sold to us. I have a dealership in Umhlanga. This woman stopped outside my dealership and said she had a flat tyre. I was not there. It was my wife who the woman spoke to.

“While she was talking to my wife I got a call from her husband.  He introduced himself as Tom and asked If I can please help as they have no spare tyre in the car.”

He said Magudumana told his wife she was a doctor who had 150,000 Instagram followers.

“She first said she wanted to borrow the car and she will pay us.

“My wife felt sorry for the lady. It was late at night and so she said she could use the car as long as they pay R100,000, which they did.

“Nandipha said they wanted to buy the car and it was arranged that they would pay it off. They took the car.

“They paid for about five months and then stopped.”

Andrews said a short while later, he received a call from Beitbridge border officials to say his car was in Zimbabwe at the border and it had been fitted with fake number plates.

“The officials said the woman had managed to get into Zimbabwe but had fled back into South Africa shortly after she was stopped.

“The car is still there. Through certain people I managed to have her tracked down in Sandton last month, where she signed an acknowledgment of debt in her office — but it means nothing because she has now disappeared.”

Andrews said while he had spoken to Bester he had never met him.

“It was always over the phone. He told me his name was Tom. He was always overseas in Dubai. He would phone from a Dubai registered number. Whether he is actually there I do not know.

“These people are horrible. They are proper con artists.” 

TimesLIVE