Court hears Magudumana should’ve opened case against Bester

"The applicant is kidnapped by accused five. She says she resisted and was overpowered. Accused five took her away from her children, denying her parental responsibility that she says has over the two children. 

"Now she finds herself arrested and applying for bail as a result of her actions of accused number five, and, your worship, you choose not to open a criminal case against this person?"

Closing arguments in Magudumana's bail application got underway in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on Monday.

Bester and Magudumana were brought back to the country after they were arrested in Tanzania in April.

The pair had allegedly been on the run after Bester was spotted at a Sandton mall a year after he escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Centre after faking his own death. 

Magudumana's attorneys have argued she was taken out of the country against her will.

State prosecutor Sello Matlhoko told the court she can still lay charges. 

"So far, this is what accused five did to her, and she does not open a case. The investigating officers say the reservation we have with the picture that is attached, she has been coming to court smiling with the same person that she says in her affidavit kidnapped her." 

Magudumana's attorney Machini Motloung told the court his client is not at this stage able to divulge more details on the circumstances around her and Bester's departure from the country in March. 

"She is saying I am mindful of my right to remain silent. It is a crucial right in proceeding of this nature. I am taking this court into confidence to the extent that I just have to illustrate to this court the circumstances following the departure from South Africa. Brief as it could be, but it does not negate the fact that she departed from South Africa."