Bloem court 17 remains locked ahead of Dr Nandipha’s appearance

Bloemfontein magistrate's courtroom 17 where Dr Nandipha Magudumana is set to appear on Thursday afternoon remained locked for nearly three hours as a security procedure. 

Magudumana is expected to sit on the same dock were her father Zolile Sekeleni and his co-accused Senohe Matsoara sat two days ago for charges linked to the escape of murderer and rapist Thabo Bester from Mangaung Prison on May 3 last year. 

A 44-year-old man believed to be a technician responsible for maintaining the CCTV at the prison will appear alongside Magudumana. It is alleged that the technician tempered with the camera server on the night that Bester escaped from prison. The CCTV could not record any movement between 7.40pm and 4.11am on the day of the escape.  

Sources at the Bloemfontein court told Sowetan on Thursday that it was abnormal for the courtroom 17 to be locked during court hours. “It is probably for security reasons because this is a big case,” said a worker at the court. 

Only a few first appearance cases were heard in courtroom 17 on Thursday morning before it was locked after 10am. 

Fugitives Magudumana and Bester were captured by Tanzanian authorities last week in Arusha while on their way to Kenya. They landed at Lanseria Airport around 4am on Thursday morning and Bester was taken to Kgosi Mampuru C-Max Prison in Pretoria while Magudumana was taken to Bloemfontein.