High Court to decide on airing of Netflix's 'Beauty and the Bester' documentary

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria is set to announce its judgment today, just 30 minutes before the highly anticipated Netflix true-crime documentary series, "Beauty and the Bester," is scheduled to debut at 9am on South African screens.

Judge Sulet Potterill reserved her decision after seeking clarification from Netflix regarding the global release timing of the series.

This ruling follows an urgent application by convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester and his partner, Nandipha Magudumana, who are requesting a halt to the documentary's airing. Their legal team argues that Netflix should postpone the series until the conclusion of their criminal trial.

Counsel for both argued that they will be seen in a bad light if the about 300 million Netflix viewers worldwide saw the series and that they will be convicted in the court of public opinion. It was argued that they have the right to be presumed innocent, until found guilty. 

They fear that, although judges must be impartial, the trial judge in their criminal trial, as well as the witnesses, may be influenced by what they see in the series.

Advocate Moafrika Wa Maila, acting for Bester, said they have only seen the trailer, but what was portrayed in it, infringed his clients rights to a fair trial, to human dignity and to be presumed innocent until found guilty.

Mailia said the documentary is not about Bester’s life story, as claimed by Netflix. According to him it about the allegations that he had escaped from a maximum prison facility.

“There is not proof that he had escaped. He has not yet been convicted on this. There are many reasons why a person is no longer in prison, such as parole. The documentary is a kangaroo court,” Maila told the court.

He further argued that we all know what “Beauty and the Bester” stands for. “Bester is replacing the beast in the children’s story “Beauty and the Beast” - meaning my client will now be the beast. This is serious defamation,” Maila argued.

He pointed out that Bester and his co-accused are due back in the Bloemfontein High Court next Friday to face their criminal trial and if the screening went ahead, it would seriously prejudice him.

Advocate Mphendulo Mfeka, acting for Magudumana said his client would suffer a trial by the public if the airing of the series went ahead. He pointed out that she has not even pleaded to the criminal charges against her and questioned that, in light of what is said in the series about her, she chose in court to exercise her right to remain silent.

He also complained about the fact that she has not been given the chance to give her side of the story to the producers of the documentary. But Advocate Thembeka Ngcukaitobi, acting for Netflix, said they did ask her to contribute towards the series. At first she said she will make some comments, but she later declined, he said.

Ngcukaitobi said there is nothing in the series that the public does not yet know - such as that Bester is a convicted rapist and killer and that he had escaped from prison.

Get your news on the go, click here to join the Cape Argus News WhatsApp channel.

Cape Argus