Judge throws out Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana interdict application to block Netflix SA and Storyscope from releasing Beauty and the Bester doc series

by Thinus Ferreira

On Friday morning Judge Sulet Potterill, as expected, dismissed the urgent court interdict application brought by convicted murderer, rapist and fraudster Thabo Bester and dr Nandipha Magadumana who tried to block Netflix from showing its documentary series Beauty and the Bester that the streamer earmarked for a release today.

"Judge Sulet Poterill in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria this morning said "A defamation claim can be instituted and damages sought. I cannot find in any way that the screening of the utterances they find to make the doctor guilty affects her right to have a fair trial".

She dismissed the interdict application with cost against Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana and noted that the information about the two are "firmly in the public domain".

At exactly 09:00 on Friday, Netflix globally released the 3-episode Beauty and the Bester, with the 40-minute episodes having titles like "A Monster is Dead", "Ride or Die", and Everything to Lose".

The first episode of Beauty and the Bester details the prison fire in which Thabo Bester allegedly faked his death to escape, the second episode details how Nandipha Magadumana's friends and family feared that she "got swept away by love", while the third episode chronicles the manhunt for the two fugitives who crossed borders into Tanzania, and how deep Nandipha's involvement is in Thabo Bester's life of crime. 

Produced by StoryScope, Beauty and the Bester - a word play on the story "Beauty and the Beast" - has Anthony Molyneaux as director, with Neil Brandt, Laura Colucci and Thandi Davids as executive producers.

Netflix declined to provide media with digital screeners of Beauty and the Bester ahead of time, something which is usually done for review purposes and to promote content, saying it is "sensitive".

Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana, with separate lawyers, both brought an urgent interdict application against the release on Netflix of Beauty and the Bester, chronicling the buzzy crime-riddled tale they're ensnared in.

After the judge tossed the interdict application on Friday morning, TVwithThinus asked Netflix South Africa for comment. Burson that does corporate communications on behalf of Netflix SA said Netflix has no comment or statement.

It's a two out of two for fail for Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana who last year also brought an interdict application against MultiChoice's streamer Showmax and IdeaCandy when they tried to block the release of the documentary Tracking Thabo Bester that was also dismissed with cost.

Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana are both due back in the Bloemfontein High Court next week Friday for their criminal trial. 

Thabo Bester is currently held in the C-Max division of the Kgosi Mampuru II jail.

ALSO READ: Netflix will only have half an hour time on Friday morning to halt global release of hot take doc series Beauty and the Bester if Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana court interdict is maybe granted

Netflix will only have half an hour time on Friday morning to halt global release of hot take doc series Beauty and the Bester if Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana court interdict is maybe granted

Thinus Ferreira

On Friday morning Netflix will literally have about half an hour or less to toggle its South African documentary series from Storyscope to "off" if a judge decides to grant an interdict against the global streamer to release Beauty and the Bester.

Netflix plans to release the 3-episode documentary series Beauty and the Bester on Friday morning, 12 September at 09:00, chronicling the buzzy crime story of convicted criminal and rapist Thabo Bester and celebrity doctor Nandipha Magadumana.

Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana, with separate lawyers, both brought an urgent interdict application against the release on Netflix of Beauty and the Bester on Friday.

The interdict application was heard on Thursday in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Friday, with a judgment that will be delivered very early on Friday morning at 08:30, giving Netflix South Africa very little time to halt its release if the interdict is maybe granted.

Netflix has refused to give media access to digital screeners of Beauty and the Bester beforehand for review purposes, with its PR company telling TVwithThinus this week that "Considering the sensitive nature of the subject matter of the series, unfortunately pre-release screeners are not available".

Weirdly, Beauty and the Bester's sensitive nature wasn't too sensitive for Netflix and Storyscope to produce a 3-part documentary series out of. 

According to the logline from Netflix PR company Eclipse Communications, "The limited series seeks to unpack the rise and dramatic fall of Dr Nandipha Magudumana, a glamorous celebrity doctor whose entanglement with a convicted rapist and murderer, Thabo Bester, shocked the nation".

"Did the renowned Dr Nandipha get embroiled in Thabo Bester's prison break? This chilling documentary series examines the enigmatic ties that bound them."

Produced by Storyscope, Beauty and the Bester - a play on the story "Beauty and the Beast" - has Anthony Molyneaux as director, with Neil Brandt, Laura Colucci and Thandi Davids as executive producers.

The "Facebook Rapist" story makes for a compelling documentary series. In 2012 Thabo Bester was convicted for the rape and murder of his model girlfriend Nomfundo Tyhulu, a year after he was also found guilty of robbing and raping two other women.

Supposed to serve a life sentence, he somehow escaped in 2022 from the maximum security prison where he was held after a fire broke out that left behind a charred body. 

But it wasn't that of Thabo Bester with the body that got switched and Thabo Bester living in Johannesburg, allegedly helped by Nandipha Magadumana. They were arrested in April 2023 in Tanzania after they tried to flee and were deported back to South Africa.

They are currently in custody and awaiting a criminal trial with charges ranging from violating a corpse to defeating the ends of justice and fraud. They have not yet pleaded to the charges.

On Thursday the court heard the lengthy application of both Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana.

Judge Sulet Potterill noted that she is reserving judgment until Friday morning very early but was specific in asking Netflix exactly at what time it planned to release Beauty and the Bester globally on Friday, with the streamer indicating a time of 09:00.

Both Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana wants Netflix's Beauty and the Bester to be shelved until after their latest court case is over, alleging that the Netflix documentary series would damage their reputations and might influence the outcome of their criminal trial.

They are due back in the Bloemfontein High Court next week Friday for their criminal trial.

Thabo Bester's lawyer, Advocate Moafrika Wa Maila, on Thursday told the court that his client's right to a fair trail will be compromised by the Netflix documentary series.

"There is no 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," Moafrika Wa Maila argued in court.

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," Moafrika Wa Maila said.

"This also shows this documentary tries to drive a certain narrative about Bester. If Netflix publishes this tomorrow, in just one hour, it means we are going to have many people see this and public opinion and a public court would have decided otherwise about Bester."

"We are standing in one corner of the truth because he is also not given a right of a response."

Nandipha Magadumana's legal representative, Advocate Mphendulo Mfeka, told the court that she had not pleaded to the criminal charges against her and has not been given the right to tell her side what happened.

Nandipha Magadumana apparently got paid by StoryScope that licensed the use of archive material like photos of her life.

Advocate Lerato Moela, also representing Nandipha Magadumana, told the court that the contract with StoryScope and Netflix gave Nandipha Magadumana the right ro review and provide input on the final documentary edit before its release - arguing that this licensing contract was now being used to prevent her from not seeing the final cut before release.

"The respondents, StoryScope and Netflix, rely on the licensing agreement to tell the applicant that if for any reason you have a right to approach the court, that licensing agreement blocks you from invoking that right."

"They seem to suggest that they have a right to veto the documentary. There is no subject who has any entitlement to veto a story about them. Especially a notorious figure. She was invited to comment and she elected not to."

Advocate Thembeka Ngcukaitobi, representing Netflix and Storycope, told the court that the production did ask Nandipha Magadumana to contribute towards Beauty and the Bester, and that she initially said that she would but later declined.

Thembeka Ngcukaitobi told the court that Beauty and the Bester contains nothing that isn't yet known in the public domain.

"This documentary gives the victims of Thabo Bester a platform to be heard after years of silence. To silence the film is to silence them again," Thembeka Ngcukaitobi said.

"Nandipha Magadumana was paid for use of archive material, so it is therefore unacceptable for her to turn around at the last minute." 

Last year Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana failed in another interdict application which was dismissed with cost, when they tried to prevent MultiChoice's streaming service Showmax and IdeaCandy from releasing the documentary Tracking Thabo Bester.

2022 10th Silwerskermfees Film Festival - Day 3: 'You're not going to work with that hair' - South African women in film share their stories.

by Thinus Ferreira 

Women working in South Africa's film and TV industry shared their shocking anecdotes, challenges and suggestions during a panel session about women in film at the 10th Silwerskermfees - with one producer revealing how a male Canadian cinematographer literally had to be fired recently because he refused to listen or take orders from the female director.  

Kaye Ann Williams, senior manager: M-Net 101 script, reality, films, co-productions, was the moderator of a Women in Film panel discussion at kykNET's 10th Silwerskermfees taking place at The Bay Hotel in Camps Bay, Cape Town, where female panellists in film and TV production shared their experiences of the local industry and how to foster opportunities and embrace challenges.

Kaye Ann Williams said women in South Africa's film and TV industry "often find themselves in a room where you're meant to get a project off the ground and you need to convince everyone that you're credible, that you know what you're talking about".

"Often women think 'Do I belong here? Am I being too bitchy? Am I too loud? How can I be more assertive?' There are all these questions that men don't ask themselves in these spaces, they just go and talk and do what they need to do."

"Female to female mentorship is so extremely important to me in the film industry."

Layla Swart, co-owner and producer of Yellowbone Entertainment doing Blood Psalms for MultiChoice's streamer Showmax, said "my biggest challenge has always been to try and not get into a mindset of being a victim. And often it's hard because often you are - often you are judged, often you are looked at differently, often you are not as trusted as your older or male counterparts."

"I've cried in meetings against my better judgment, fighting against who I actually am all the time until I got to a point where I said to myself I've got to live in the power of being a woman, of being the feminine and knowing what I can contribute to a space or environment or a project."

Screenwriter and director Amy Jephta said if she were to ever write a memoir about her career the title would probably be "Three white men and me". 

"That has always, almost always been the ratio of the spaces and places I find myself in - me and two white guys, me and three white guys".

"The spaces where it's been equal, who look like me - who are black and women - are spaces usually that I've created, it's rooms where I've consciously tried to diversify that. You can never forget your positionality in that room, you can never forget your politics and the politics of your body in that space."

Creating a space for women

Thandi Davids, executive producer at StoryScope and co-chairperson of the Independent Producers Organisation (IPO) said that "at our last big feature doc we had to fire a director of photography who came in from Canada because he refused to take direction from a director. He literally would not listen to her; it was completely astounding."

"It's really important for us to create an enabling environment on every level, and look at bringing women in on every level," she said and noted that on a recent project "We've just tried to find a female composer - you can't find a female composer."

"If you pitch a project, knowing you're going with women, and pitch with a female writer, or pitch with a female director - if this is what your vision is for the project, say you're not going to change that. [Someone says] a male writer will be better. No. No, I want a female writer, I want that voice in the room."

Thandi Davids also shared with delegates a story of how sometimes it's also women - not men - bringing the women down, telling delegates a story dating back to her time when she was working as an executive at FOX and National Geographic now part of Disney, but then still FOX International Channels.

"I went to a meeting with 17 people in the room and I was the only black person and one of only two females."

"And I went to the bathroom and she follows me into the bathroom and she says to me 'I don't think you're going to work with that hair. The hair doesn't work on a global level.' And I said my hair? And she said 'Yes, yes. You're not going to get far in this organisation with your hair like that."

"And I literally had to go at her. Why is my physicality and the way I look such an issue for you? Why are you coming in here and not having a discussion about the difficulty we are having inside that room? You're coming in here to tell me the problem is the way that I look and my hair? What's that about?"

She said it's also important that women don't just open the door for other women but create and change a team to move things forward. "If you're out the door, that idea is out the door. If you're trying to change something, take a team with you, bring people with you so that when you're gone that vision remains."

Vlokkie Gordon, owner and producer of Advantage Entertainment said "I often say the hardest thing is your first three no's."

About getting more women into the industry Kaye Anne Williams said "It can't just be the producers thinking 'I need a female DOP', it needs to be the broadcasters, it needs to be the government institutions, it needs to be training platforms."

"We should all be intentional about filling up those spaces or at least equalising and balancing them out. That's a responsibility we should all bear - it doesn't just lay with AFDA or just the broadcaster."

ALSO READ: 2022 10th Silwerskermfees - Day 1: Programme director Ricky Human on the growing need to tell authentic local stories.

ALSO READ: 2022 10th Silwerskerm Film Festival - Day 2: Showcasing the tenacity of South Africa's film industry.

ALSO READ: 2022 10th Silwerskermfees Film Festival - Day 2: With South Africa's global co-productions still in infancy, MultiChoice to announce Afrikaans series with Canal+.

ALSO READ: 2022 10th Silwerskermfees Film Festival - Day 2: Not a white napkin to be found - how South Africa's event industry is starting to bounce back.

ALSO READ: 2022 10th Silwerskermfees Film Festival - Day 4: M-Net boss Jan du Plessis: 'We're fully committed to growing local film.'

ALSO READ: 2022 10th Silwerskermfees Film Festival - Day 4: Number of South Africa's cinema screens to remain flat post-Covid.

ALSO READ: 2022's 10th Silwerskermfees awards: Barakat and Gaia the big winners.