Showmax vows to defend Bester docu-series amid Magudumana legal threats
Responding to Magudumana’s legal threats to halt the airing of the docu-series, Showmax said it took all the necessary steps to ensure it adhered to the standards of journalistic integrity and ethical reporting.
Nandipha Magudumana appeared before the Bloemfontein High Court on 21 February 2024. Picture: Jacques Nelles / Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - Showmax said it will defend the right of the public to see the Thabo Bester docu-series, set for release next week, amid legal threats by disgraced Doctor Nandipha Magudumana's legal team.
Magudumana’s lawyers released a statement on Friday, demanding to be provided with a copy of the series,Tracking Thabo Bester, by two o'clock on Saturday afternoon, accusing Showmax of not getting permission from Magudumana to produce and stream the documentary.
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The lawyers said should they not receive a copy, they would bring an urgent application before the High Court for an interim interdict to stop the broadcast of the series.
Showmax said it took all the necessary steps to ensure that the Thabo Bester documentary adhered to standards of journalistic integrity and ethical reporting.
It said given the serious allegations made against Bester and Magudumana, it was in the public interest to air this series so that people could formulate their own opinions.
The two were arrested in April 2023 after Bester, who was serving a life sentence for rape and murder, escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Facility.
Magudumana, Bester, and others who were implicated in aiding his escape are expected back in court in June.
They face charges of fraud, corruption, violating a corpse, defeating the ends of justice, arson, and aiding and assisting a prisoner to escape.