Netflix's lawyers want Bester, Magudumana slapped with a personal cost order for 'abuse of process'

JOHANNESBURG - Lawyers representing streaming platform, Netflix, in a legal battle with Thabo Bester and Dr Nandipha Magudumana have called for harsh personal sanctions on their legal teams for their conduct.

On Thursday, the Pretoria High Court heard an urgent application by the pair to temporarily stop the broadcast of a documentary series about them titled Beauty and the Bester.

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Bester, Magudumana and others are accused of orchestrating his brazen escape from the Mangaung prison in 2023, where he was serving a life sentence.

But advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi has lambasted their lawyers for delaying to file papers, submitting an incomplete, unsigned affidavit and failing to give an explanation.

He has asked for the court to slap them with a personal cost order.

"And this is why we say to your ladyship - whatever your ladyship thinks, this is a classic example of an abuse of process of two litigants that are going to litigate the way they want, according to their pace, according to their rules. The important issue is the blasé nature, the 'devil may care' attitude that they bring along when they have to explain."