PRETORIA – Infamous South African couple, Dr Nandipha Magudumana and convicted rapist Thabo Bester, have failed in their bid to block a Netflix documentary about their Bonnie and Clyde-style romance, after a court heard that the disgraced medical professional had been paid for the making of the doccie.
The couple’s last-ditch attempt to stop the airing of the documentary, titled “Beauty and the Bester”, was thrown out by the Pretoria High Court, which dismissed the matter as not urgent.
The documentary started streaming on the popular platform at 9am on Friday.
In her application, Magudumana sought to prevent Netflix from airing footage of her father Zolile Sekeleni and comments by Cameron, then the inspecting judge of correctional services, calling for the documentary to be modified before release.
Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi told the court on Thursday, September 11, 2025, that Netflix contends Dr. Nandipha Magudumana was compensated for giving them access to her archives, which were utilised in the Beauty and the Bester documentary that she tried to stop from airing.
“It is obviously a factor that Netflix has made commercial investments in the production of the documentary, and it has done so with the knowledge and participation of Dr Nandipha Magudumana.
“She was paid for the use of her archives; it is therefore unacceptable for her, at the last minute, to turn around,” said Ngcukaitobi.
Ngcukaitobi further stated that it would be shocking if the court prohibited Netflix from airing something that is already widely known.
“The documentary, Beauty and the Bester, primarily builds on previously disclosed information.
It collates and presents material that has long been in the public domain through investigative journalism, court proceedings, parliamentary debate, the work of correctional oversight bodies, and social media,” he argued.
Bester’s lawyer, Adv Moafrika Wa Maila, said the documentary would subject his client to serious defamation as the public would presume him guilty, despite the ongoing criminal trial.
In an affidavit read out by Wa Maila in court, Bester said: “Netflix has employed ‘crafty’ and ‘manipulative’ editing practices in the publication of this documentary, which can also be seen in the trailer where one of the commentators is shown to be asking the question: ‘Would you say you’re a danger to society’ and a video clip of myself is then superimposed immediately after stating something along the lines of ‘Yes, I would say so’ or ‘Yes, I believe so’.
“Putting this in perspective, there is a high likelihood that if the documentary is allowed to flight even for one hour, there are likely to be around more than 6.3 million South Africans who are subjected to these misleading and manipulated editing practices,” he said.
“I respectfully submit that there is no amount of money that will make people unhear that ‘Thabo Bester faked his death and escaped from prison’ or the fact that I am being stripped of my humanity and being portrayed as a ‘beast’ in this documentary, which fact can be inferred from the title of the documentary itself, which is adapted from the popular movie Beauty and the Beast.
“Additionally, no damages in due course will make people unhear and/or unsee any other one-sided allegations that are being made in the documentary.
“I believe that any reasonable viewer will conclude that I am inhuman and guilty as portrayed and would not be disabused of such views simply because I later successfully bring a claim for damages.”
