Home Affairs disputes Dr Nandipha’s claim that she was abducted in Tanzania

The Department of Home Affairs has insisted that celebrity doctor Nandipha Magudumana’s arrest in Arusha was lawful and that she was not abducted as she claimed in legal papers.

Magudumana’s legal team reportedly filed an urgent court application in the Bloemfontein High Court on Friday, 19 May to have her arrest and deportation to be declared wrongful and unlawful. The matter will be heard on Thursday, 25 May.

HOME AFFAIRS DISPUTES DR NANDIPHA’S ABDUCTION CLAIM

As previously reported by The South African, Magudumana is one of the suspects charged with aiding and abetting a criminal to escape from lawful custody.

Magudumana wants her “apprehension, arrest and abduction” in Arusha, Tanzania, on 7 April, her transportation to South Africa, and her local arrest to be undone.

Other parts of her application detail that the accused wants the court to set aside the current criminal proceedings against her in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court, and she wants to be discharged from the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) custody.

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During the briefing Motsoaledi said Magudumana and Bester were declared prohibited immigrants in Tanzania and were ordered to leave the country within three days. Therefore they were liable to be deported to their country of origin as a matter of law.

Motsoaledi said they found out about the urgent court bid via the media and it was shocking that the Department of Home Affairs nor himself were not cited as respondents in the court papers.

Watch: Minister Motsoaledi explains the arrest of Dr Magudumane's in Tanzania by the Tanzanian authorities and what transpired thereafter #HomeAffairs pic.twitter.com/wkb1C6cqe4

— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) May 22, 2023

“The director-general immediately addressed a letter dated 21 May 2023 to her attorneys raising objection to the non-joinder of the DHA (Department of Home Affairs) and I demanded that the ill-advised application be removed from the urgent roll,” he said.

The Minister further revealed that they are planning to revoke Magudumana’s passport.

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This article was originally published by NOKWANDA NCWANE.