In brief
Thabo Bester, known as the 'Facebook rapist,' has lost a court bid to prevent Netflix from airing a documentary titled 'Beauty and the Bester,' which focuses on his life, his escape from prison, and his partner's involvement. The court ruled that the case is of public interest and that the couple could still sue for defamation after the documentary's release.
Convicted South African rapist Thabo Bester has lost a court bid to block Netflix from broadcasting a documentary about his life - including how he allegedly faked his death and escaped from prison.
His lawyers argued that Beauty and the Bester was defamatory, but the streaming giant defended its plan to release the three-part investigation.
Bester's partner, celebrity doctor Nandipha Magudumana, features in the documentary, having allegedly helped him escape. She was part of the court bid to halt the release.
In a court ruling on Friday, a judge said the rape case was firmly in the public domain and that they had failed to prove that their petition was urgent.
However, she stated that the pair would still be free to sue for defamation if they wished after the documentary airs, which is due later on Friday.
Bester was convicted in 2012 for the rape and murder of his model girlfriend Nomfundo Tyhulu. A year earlier, he was found guilty of raping and robbing two other women.
Bester became known as the Facebook rapist for using the social networking site to lure his victims and was serving a life sentence when he allegedly escaped from a maximum security prison in 2022.
A fire broke out in the prison, and authorities initially believed they found Bester's body, which turned out to belong to another person. Undetected for a year, Bester allegedly lived under an alias in Johannesburg, assisted by Magudumana.
The pair were arrested while on the run in Tanzania in April 2023 and were deported. They remain in custody awaiting trial on several charges, including violating a corpse and fraud.
The couple had petitioned the court to halt the Netflix documentary, claiming it infringed upon their right to a fair trial. However, Judge Sulet Potterill stated that the applications lacked urgency and that Bester and Magudumana had waited until the last minute to file their appeal.
The judge concluded that the pair could seek substantial redress through a defamation suit after the documentary's broadcast, affirming that the contents of the film do not adversely affect their legal rights.
