Magudumana appeals at the Constitutional Court

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:01]Tanzanian authorities in 2023 are said to have declared Dr. Nandip Pamagumana a prohibited person and ordered her deportation.

[00:00:10]Officials apprehended her in Arushia alongside her alleged boyfriend Taboesta after being in the country illegally.

[00:00:18]Her lawyers say what happened thereafter amounted to an unlawful extradition.

[00:00:24]And the importance for our purposes and for the court's purposes we would submit is that all deportations are unilateral act. They are not bilateral.

[00:00:36]They don't involve agreements between states.

[00:00:42]And what happens in this case on the facts is that there was an agreement between the two governments involved in this case. And for that purpose, may I just turn quickly to two references on the record. The first is in volume two.

[00:01:02]It's case line 011-2-31, paragraph 13 of an affidavit of Nao Morong where she says it's paragraph 13 and I read the agreement and I emphasize the agreement between the Tanzanian authorities and the high commission to deport. So she tells the home affairs tells this court that there was an agreement between the two authorities to do what? To deport Nandipa Magumana and Tabesta back to South Africa was reached at the premises of the high commission. Then she goes on to say a very interesting thing which the court will consider in its judgment.

[00:01:49]She says, "I am advised that once that happened, Nandipa Maguumana and Tabesta as a matter of international law were regarded to have been in the custody of the high commission on South African soil.

[00:02:02]We would say that's a subversion of international law 101."

[00:02:08]>> The lawyer representing the South African Police and the National Prosecuting Authority face questions about a delegation sent to Tanzania.

[00:02:17]when that high level >> yes >> team was was was was put together >> yes >> these are high ranking police officials >> the NPA was there am I correct >> yes >> when that team h put together such a team what was the purpose >> well by sight >> of going to Tanzania apart from what happened in Tanzania the team obviously when they were composed There was a mandate. They went to Tanzania with a mandate to do what?

[00:02:52]>> Yes. Um you find that in the in the papers uh justice to give they they say that they um a decision was made uh that the multi- department team from South Africa should be assembled to travel to to Tanzania to deal with a matter.

[00:03:14]>> Yes. To deal with the matter. That's why I'm not clear. Yes. To deal with the matter. What is to deal with the matter?

[00:03:20]I'm not sure.

[00:03:20]>> Well, I'm I'm papers. But >> yes, but because we we faced in this court with two processes and these two processes um um do not operate the same way. This is why I'm interested to know which one of these processes the South African team went to Tanzania for.

[00:03:39]>> Yes. What you do know is that that's what they say. And then after they arrived there, you know what the multitask team informed Tanzania and that is that um >> they went there to deal with the matter.

[00:03:54]>> That's what they say when they decided after this team was assembled to deal with the matter.

[00:04:00]>> The chief justice and some members of the bench weren't satisfied with the answers given on why the delegation went to Tanzania.

[00:04:10]Under what legal prescript? Under what provision of what law? Under what legal entitlement did the South African authorities take physical control?

[00:04:21]>> That would be under the Tanzanian immigration act.

[00:04:24]>> So the South African authorities are acting under this Tanzanian legislation.

[00:04:30]>> When is that permissible under our constitution?

[00:04:33]>> They are in the territorial jurisdiction of um Tanzania. Tanzania uh >> and they're exercising their their obligations as officials of South Africa, >> but our law does not apply in Tanzania.

[00:04:47]It is Tanzanian law that applies and um um the handover was done in accordance to the Tanzanian immigration act. Thank you.

[00:04:58]>> Immigration officials from home affairs received Makudumana and best before bringing them to South Africa.

[00:05:05]Nandipak Kurdumana not only wants this protracted legal battle to end with a declaration that her extradition was unlawful, but also that her prosecution would be fruits of a poisonous tree. The buck stops with the country's top jurists who will now determine the future of her freedom. For now, judgment is reserved. For news from Africa on channel 405, I'm Lin Damni at the constitutional courts.