Magudumana v Director of Public Prosecutions, Free State and Others

The appellant, Ms Nandipha Magudumana, a suspect linked to the escape of convicted murderer Thabo Bester from Mangaung Correctional Centre, left South Africa while a warrant for her arrest was outstanding. She was later located in Tanzania together with Mr Bester. Tanzanian authorities apprehended them for being unlawfully present in Tanzania and declared them prohibited immigrants. The Tanzanian government decided to deport them. They were handed over to the South African High Commission and thereafter to officials of the South African Department of Home Affairs, who transported them back to South Africa by aircraft. Upon arrival at Lanseria Airport on 13 April 2023, the appellant was formally arrested by SAPS officers. The appellant brought an urgent application in the High Court contending that she had been unlawfully arrested and abducted in Tanzania by SAPS members and that her removal amounted to an unlawful disguised extradition. The High Court dismissed the application, and she appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

The appeal was dismissed with costs, including the costs of two counsel where so employed.

The case reaffirms important principles governing unlawful arrest claims, the burden of proof in deprivation of liberty cases, and the application of the Plascon-Evans rule in motion proceedings. It clarifies that the onus on the state to justify detention arises only once the applicant establishes the identity of the party responsible for the deprivation. The judgment also underscores procedural discipline in constitutional litigation, particularly the impermissibility of making out a new case in reply and seeking relief against parties not cited in the notice of motion.