Magudumana's lawyer accuses Bizzah Makhate prison officials of human rights abuses
Machini Motloung said his client, who is currently detained at the facility in Bloemfontein, was allegedly assaulted by two inmates at the weekend.
Nandipha Magudumana appeared before the Bloemfontein High Court on 21 February 2024. Picture: Jacques Nelles / Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - Disgraced doctor Nandipha Magudumana's lawyer has accused officials at the Bizzah Makhate Correctional Centre of human rights abuses.
Machini Motloung said his client, who is currently detained at the facility in Bloemfontein, was allegedly assaulted by two inmates at the weekend.
He said Magudumana reported to the centre’s senior officials that she was allegedly being threatened, but nothing was done.
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“She says to me, 'I’ve been assaulted by the very same person that I’ve been complaining to prison authorities about, the sangoma [traditional healer] in my cell, and the other inmate who’s mentally challenged assaulted me and what made me upset is that I laid a complaint a day earlier, on Saturday'.”
Motloung added that Magudumana has opened a case of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm against her alleged attackers.
“The type of treatment she gets, it’s a Magudumana treatment. It’s a treatment where every time she lays a complaint she’s told you are high-profile inmate. The conditions there are so unbearable that no preferential treatment is sought here.”
Magudumana was arrested in April 2023 in Tanzania after allegedly aiding convicted rapist Thabo Bester to escape from Mangaung Prison in 2022.