The National Prosecuting Authority maintains that the process of deporting Dr. Nandipha Magudumana from Tanzania to South Africa last year March was seamless. Magudumana was at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein yesterday to challenge what her lawyers call a 'disguised' extradition. 

THE CASE WILL BE DISMISSED

In June, the Free State High Court ruled that Magudumana, who accused the police of abducting her, consented to return to South Africa and told law enforcement she wanted to see her children. The NPA's Mthunzi Mhaga said the process was above board, including the arrest at Lanseria Airport when she and her lover Thabo Bester arrived in the country. Mhaga also said that the defence's argument couldn't hold water, given that they couldn't convincingly demonstrate to the judges that the South African police service played any significant role in that deportation process. He explained that deportation is a unilateral process initiated by the deporting country. "You could hear our argument, which we meticulously presented here, that the result is obvious: their appeal will be dismissed," Mhaga said.

NOT AN EXTRADITION

Mhaga dismissed the argument brought forward by Magudumana and her defence, claiming that the deportation was extradition is disguise because she was received by a heavy police presence at the airport. " Nothing turned out on that issue because the judges asked what role the police played and they couldn't demonstrate that they played any significant role. As a result, their role there was merely to escort, and therefore there was no role that the SAPS played. Mhaga concluded, "The state maintains that even if they can take this matter to Braamfontein in the Constitutional Court, it will still be dismissed." Judgment on the application has been reserved.