The premiere of the first episode of "Tracking Thabo Bester" is scheduled for 15 March. Photo: Twitter/@FaizelPatel143 - The Citizen
The battle to stop a documentary about Facebook rapist Thabo Bester on Showmax is heading to the courts.
MultiChoice has confirmed that the last-minute applications by Bester and his girlfriend Dr. Nandipha Magadumana to stop Showmax from airing the four-part documentary “Tracking Thabo Bester” will be heard in the Johannesburg High Court on Friday.
This is the same day that the documentary is due to start airing on Showmax.
Showmax told The Citizen it believes it is important that members of the public see this programme and form their own view.
“The allegations against Mr. Bester and Dr Magudumana are incredibly serious and Showmax strongly believes that it is essential for viewers to have the opportunity to watch the documentary and form their own informed opinions. Showmax is of the view that the attempt to stop Showmax from doing so is without any legal merit and breaches the constitutional rights of the public.”
“Bester and Magudumana have each approached the High Court, trying to stop the documentary being seen because they say it threatens their rights. Showmax has briefed legal counsel and will be vigorously opposing the applications,” it said.
ALSO READ: WATCH: Showmax ‘vigorously defends’ publics right to see the Thabo Bester doccie series
Showmax was first hit with a letter of demand last week after Magudumana’s lawyers demanded that the Multichoice group hand them a copy of the documentary.
Magudumuna’s lawyers argue the streaming of the documentary series may cause “irreparable harm” and give rise to claims for damages in respect of which Bester’s girlfriend expressly reserves all her rights.
The streaming service was later slapped with another letter of demand, this time from Bester, who also demanded a copy of the docu-series based on his prison escape.
Magudumana faces charges of fraud, corruption, aiding and assisting a prisoner to escape, arson and the violation of bodies relating to the escape of Bester from prison in May 2022.
Bester and Magudumana were arrested in April, about 10km out of Arusha in Tanzania, after fleeing the hotel they were staying in.
The Facebook rapist escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Centre (MCC) in Bloemfontein in May 2022, after it was initially believed he had committed suicide by setting himself alight in his cell.
The premiere of the first episode of “Tracking Thabo Bester” is scheduled for 15 March 2024, exclusively on Showmax.
It follows GroundUp journalists as they investigate an anonymous tip off that the burnt body at Mangaung Correctional Centre may not have been Bester.
Subsequent episodes look at why Bester was called the Facebook rapist and in jail originally; how a celebrity doctor fell for a convicted criminal and left her children behind to go on the run with him to Tanzania; and who really died in Cell 35.
ALSO READ: Magudumana wants to stop release of ‘Tracking Thabo Bester’ doccie
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