News24 | Correctional services dept probing Magudumana's alleged assault behind bars

Dr Nandipha Magudumana. (Joseph Mokoaledi/Daily Sun)

• The Department of Correctional Services is investigating the alleged assault of Nandipha Magudumana in custody.
• According to Magudumana's lawyer, she was attacked and left bruised on Sunday.
• The department's spokesperson said the officials who examined Magudumana reported no injuries or bruises.

The Department of Correctional Services is investigating the alleged assault of Nandipha Magudumana in custody.

"Reports of an alleged altercation and a push against the grills can be confirmed," said the department's spokesperson, Singabakho Nxumalo. 

According to her lawyer, Machini Motloung, Magudumana, who is currently detained at the Kroonstad Correctional Centre in the Free State, was assaulted by two inmates on Sunday, leaving her with "serious bruising, pain and suffering". 

However, Nxumalo said health officials who assessed her reported no visible injuries. 

Motloung said the alleged attacker was a sangoma and had been stirring division against Magudumana "because of her incessant praying and singing with other inmates".

He claimed prison officials failed to prevent the attack after Magudumana had reported the threats against her. 

"Her complaint on various challenges she is incessantly experiencing in the correctional facility has landed on [deaf] ears as the prison authorities have done little, if not nothing, to attend to a myriad of complaints from her."

Nxumalo said department officials advised Magudumana to open a criminal case when she reported that she was allegedly assaulted, but she opted to discuss it with her lawyers first.

"The safety and well-being of inmates is our utmost priority, and we take such allegations seriously. Hence, this incident is under investigation," he said.

According to Motloung, Magudumana opened a case of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm against her alleged attackers.

Police have not yet confirmed this. 

"... we will be engaging with the department and the ministry of justice concerning her safety in prison as an awaiting trial inmate," Motloung said.

Magudumana and Bester made headlines after GroundUp exposed how the married aesthetics doctor and influencer had allegedly helped her inmate boyfriend fake his own death and escape from the maximum-security Mangaung Correctional Centre. 

The State claims that Magudumana even procured bodies to assist in Bester's escape plan and went to court in an urgent but failed bid to ensure that the true identity of the body set on fire in her lover's cell was never discovered. 

The couple are alleged to have committed multiple scams, after Bester's May 2022 escape, which funded their luxurious life in Sandton.

After their escape plot was exposed, they fled to Tanzania, where they were arrested by local authorities.