Judge dismisses urgent application to halt Netflix's 'Beauty and the Bester'

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled this morning that the highly anticipated three-part Netflix true-crime documentary series, "Beauty and the Bester", will proceed without interruption.

Thabo Bester and his partner, Nandipha Magudumana, sought an urgent court order to prevent the airing of the series, arguing that Netflix should withhold its release until the conclusion of their criminal trial.

However, Judge Sulet Potterill, after hearing arguments from Bester and Magudumana’s counsel that the series contains inaccurate, defamatory, and unsubstantiated claims and violates their constitutional rights, said the urgent applications submitted to the court were without merit and the urgency was self-created. 

According to Judge Potterill, the urgent application, which was brought by Magudumana’s counsel a day before the airing, placed undue pressure on the court and was wholly unreasonable.

Judge Potterill struck the urgent applications from the roll and made cost orders against both Magudumana and Bester. 

Judge Potterill said information of the two is “firmly in the public domain” and added that substantive redress, including suing for defamation, is available in due course to the parties as the case law is clear in this regard.  

Judge Potterill said information about the two was in the public domain, which was set out in judgments in the bail applications and the appeal against the failed bail applications. 

“No judge will be influenced by any documentary. Witnesses will be exposed to cross-examination, the public will form an opinion, but that is a by-product of the criminal justice system and does not affect the rights,” she said.

The two are scheduled to return to the Bloemfontein High Court next Friday. 

They are awaiting trial on several charges after they were arrested in 2023 in Tanzania following a series of events that had shocked the nation. This includes Bester’s notorious prison break from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein, where he served a life imprisonment term for rape and murder convictions.

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