Nandipha Sekeleni Magudumana, a revered businesswoman and medical doctor, went dark on social media after news broke out about her possible involvement in recent developments around the possible prison break of Thabo Bester.
Dr Nandipha disappears from social media amid Thabo Bester scandal
Bester, a convicted serial sex offender believed to be killed in a suspicious fire that broke out in his prison cell in May 2022, caused a raucous when a man believed to resemble the man dubbed the ‘Facebook rapist’ was caught on camera shopping in Sandton City, a month later.
Images of the man suspected to be Bester went viral on social media this week, nine months after they were taken by a store clerk who’d spotted Dr Nandipha shopping with the unknown figure, who was clearly not her husband.
An explosive GroundUp investigation revealed that not only was it very likely that Bester, who was convicted in October 2011 for two counts of rape, aggravated robbery and murder, was alive, but that Dr Nandipha Sekeleni Magudumana may have played a role in his alleged prison break.
Official records obtained by GroundUp uncovered a bizarre link between Bester and the celebrity doctor, who is the founder of a cosmetic surgery boutique, Optimum Medical Solutions.
According to investigations, Dr Nandipha submitted a claim for the remains of the man believed to be Bester, three days after he was charred to death under suspicious circumstances inside his prison cell at the Mangaung corrections facility.
In the submission, the famous doctor identified herself as Bester’s wife under customary law and insisted in court records filed on 19 May 2022, that she and the convicted serial rapist had tied the knot in February 2020.
However, not only are there glaring discrepancies in Dr Nandipha’s account of how she met and ‘fell in love’ with Bester, but Home Affairs records show she is still registered as married under civil law.
The bizarre developments around Bester’s alleged prison break were further compounded by gob-smacking allegations made by a man who identified himself as the celebrity doctor’s brother, Nkosinathi Sekeleni.
In a since-deleted Facebook post, Nkosinathi blasted Dr Nandipha for colluding with Bester, who allegedly assumed a new identity as TK Nkwana since breaking out of prison, in a sophisticated criminal enterprise.
According to Nkosinathi, Bester allegedly sponsored Dr Nandipha’s popular Doctor’s Network event “and has been laundering money through her business [Optimum Medical Aesthetics].”
“She has really dug herself into a hole. For a married woman having an affair with such a lowlife as this, she is a shame to the Sekeleni family,” Nkosinathi wrote.
The man who claims to be Dr Nandipha’s brother added that he had records of telephonic conversations between his sister and Bester.
“I’m posting this because two nights ago a gunman tried and failed to kill me, my wife and my child,” he wrote.
Coincidentally, the same man had gone under the radar in January 2022, when he pleaded with Times Live journalists to contact him for “information on convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester still operating while in prison.”
This tweet was sent four months before Bester’s suspicious death.
Dr Nandipha has completely dropped off from social media since the scandal broke out. The revered doctor is believed to be embroiled in a fiery challenge to be recognised as the wife of Bester in an ongoing court matter regarding the prisoner’s supposed corpse.