Magudumana: From doctor to half-tone gangster in a tiara?

The ingredients that went into Dr Nandipha Magudumana's alleged conspiracy to help Thabo Bester — or whatever his name is — escape a maximum-security prison indicates she could be a hardened gangster in a tiara, a stethoscope around her neck.

Though untested in court, the speculative evidence demonstrates a rigid dichotomy between successful doctor and body-claimer in a ruse to help a murderer and rapist evade serving time.

What vainglorious buffoonery would lead a celebrity medical professional to pick vegetables and decide on juice flavours with a man who, in 2012, was convicted of raping and murdering his good friend, model Nomfundo Tyhulu? He was also found guilty of raping and robbing two other women.

How Magudumana went from illustrious image of success among her social media followers and peers to the woman who left her children and went on the run with a hardened criminal overwhelms the mind. Only an equally criminally minded person driven by cunning, while hiding behind success and beauty, would be a party to her boyfriend being “found dead in his cell” after setting himself alight (not really).

If this did happen, did she ever pause and think: Where is the line? How far is too far?

Magudumana allegedly stole three unidentified bodies from Free State mortuaries. Two are believed to have been earmarked for Bester’s previous failed prison-break plans from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein, from which he escaped in May 2022. The third, which was ultimately used as the decoy therein, remains unidentified. 

The thought of her, or someone working on her behalf, apparently discarding a pauper into a river with a toe tag still attached beggars belief. A serious interrogation of the mental states of those involved — an exhumation of the fungus in their minds — is needed.

What constitutes Nandipha's philosophy on life? What did she lack? Why do women fall for criminals — in prison? Sure, prisoners are human too, but unrepentant rapists and murderers?

Until recently I had forgotten that last winter a long-lost friend told me in giddy-girl talk that behind her clear skin, happiness and glow was a man awaiting parole in Kgosi Mampuru C-Max Prison. I was on maternity leave and did not have time to cross-examine this shocking news, but I remember her telling me this man bought her airtime, was reliable and always a call away. He even sent her money to visit him. 

She could not go into what crime he had committed. Heck, I don’t think she cared. He was hers and they were in love. There was a type of thrill in the way she spoke about him, an excitement, no fear. They met on Facebook and his profile, she said, did not indicate he was sleeping and waking up in orange overalls. It did not bother her that he was a thug.

Some women love flirting with danger, they love being the ones who “understand” men society categorises as bad weeds. But more than that, women love money and power. The type of man who would rather risk dying for money than live without it embodies the very thing they are looking for. They make things happen.

But seemingly, the love for money and the ecstasy of these types of relationships do not come with the wisdom that bad deeds often go punished, that inasmuch as we want to be mega-successful, the impermanence of things often wins.

Sometimes when people get caught, they are in too deep. This time, so deep that the image of the entire correctional service system has been tarnished and ridiculed. We are nowhere near the truth of what happened in Mangaung Correctional Centre, run by private security company G4S. Or how something so elaborate and bizarre could happen right under our noses.

How many unthinkable things are unfolding in these facilities if my friend, a regular girl with medium ambition, can hatch a love story with a man behind bars? Is correctional services taking it's role as a custodian of prisons seriously? Who else was involved in Bester’s escape?

Was his trip to Woolies in Sandton, Johannesburg, worth it? Were the deceit, piling up bodies and coming home in handcuffs worth it?

If these things did happen, “the good doctor” needs help. As a society, we need to be liberated from the perverse idea of a “soft life”, which often requires a sprinkle of crime. Greed need not be the driving force, plenty should be enough.

This is not to say those serving time don't deserve love. But damn, when we said we love bad boys, this is not what we meant.

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