With less than two weeks before the release of Netflix’s much-anticipated true-crime docuseries Beauty and the Bester, Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magudumana have launched an urgent court application to stop its premiere.
The three-part series is set to debut on 12 September, but the couple’s legal representatives argue that it contains false, defamatory and unverified claims.
They also maintain that it infringes on their constitutional rights. The matter is scheduled for hearing on 9 September, just days before the documentary’s release.
The docuseries revisits Bester’s audacious 2022 escape from Mangaung Maximum Security Prison, where he was serving time for rape and murder, and explores his extravagant double life while on the run.
It further traces the extensive manhunt that led to the pair’s arrest in Tanzania in 2023.
According to Netflix, the production includes courtroom footage and exclusive investigative material, offering insight into what the platform describes as a tale of love, manipulation and corruption.
The trailer features interviews with friends and family, including Magudumana’s father Zolile Cornelius Sekeleni, as well as public figures such as Pearl Thusi and Penny Lebyane, who reflect on the unusual relationship between the celebrity doctor and her convicted partner.
Bester and Magudumana’s lawyers claim the project unfairly vilifies their clients and is driven by sensationalism rather than fact. They further argue that Bester was not afforded an adequate opportunity to respond to the allegations presented in the series.
This is not the first time the pair has tried to block a documentary centred on their case. Earlier this year, they attempted to halt the broadcast of Tracking Thabo Bester on Showmax, but the Johannesburg High Court dismissed the application.
In that ruling, the court held that the couple’s concerns were based largely on anxiety rather than demonstrable harm and reaffirmed that public figures cannot demand pre-publication approval of media coverage.
As the legal battle over Beauty and the Bester unfolds, Bester and Magudumana are also preparing for their formal trial, which is scheduled to run from 10 November 2025 until March 2026.
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