Nandipha Magudumana (née Sekeleni; otherwise known as Dr Nandipha) is a South African medical practitioner and celebrity doctor born in Bizana, Eastern Cape, and raised in Port Edward, KwaZulu-Natal. She was co-accused alongside her partner Thabo Bester for several crimes including murder and aiding a fugitive's prison escape from the Mangaung Penitentiary.
Nandipha Magudumana | |
|---|---|
| Born | Nandipha Sekeleni 15 September 1989 Bizana, Eastern Cape, South Africa |
| Other names | Dr Nandipha |
| Education | University of the Witwatersrand (BHSc, MBChB) |
| Occupation | Medical doctor |
| Years active | 2014–2021 |
| Known for | Making the Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans finalist |
| Television | Tracking Thabo Bester |
| Criminal charges |
|
| Criminal status | Incarcerated |
| Spouse | Mkhuseli Magudumana (m. 2013) |
| Partner | Thabo Bester |
| Children | 2 |
| Medical career | |
| Profession |
|
| Institutions | Optimum Medical Aesthetics Solutions |
| Sub-specialties | Cosmetic surgery solutions |
| Details | |
| Victims | Katlego Bereng Mpholo |
| Country | South Africa |
| Location(s) | Bloemfontein, Free State |
| Imprisoned at | Bizzah Makhate Correctional Centre |
| Website | optimumsolutions |
Early and personal life
Originating in Sandton, residing in Hyde Park, Johannesburg, and given the birth name Nandipha Sekeleni, she was born on 15 September 1989 in Bizana, Eastern Cape. Magudumana was married in 2013 to a fellow medical doctor Mkhuseli Magudumana and they had two children. The couple entered a civil marriage and although they are no longer together, according to the Home Affairs database, they are still registered as married.
She completed her primary and high school studies at Port Edward Primary School and Port Shepstone High School respectively. She went on to study medicine and graduated from Wits University. She holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) in Biomedical Sciences and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) and a Bachelor of Medicine.
Career
After she furthered her studies, with her qualifications she worked at the Edenvale Hospital in 2014 for a year, then later moved to Far East Rand Hospital where she became a highly sought-after physician specialising in anesthetics and administering dermatology, plastic surgery, and medications. In 2017, Magudumana founded Optimum Medical Aesthetics Solutions, a facility that offers procedures for cosmetic surgery in Morningside, Sandton. She treated high profile clients including the Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi in 2019. Magudumana made the Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans finalists, SADC Top 100 Young Leaders, and Top 20 Most Influential Young South Africans lists in 2018.
In 2021, Magudumana's medical license expired. In May 2023, the South African political party Democratic Alliance (DA) reached out to the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) for revocation of her medical license because the doctor failed to pay her annual fees in April 2021. In 2021, Magudumana and Bester co-founded Arum Properties, a construction company. GroundUp used a March 2023 piece to allege that they used the firm to scam people, and that it convinced numerous people to pay millions of rands for renovations and construction projects of which they never delivered.
Legal history
On 3 May 2022, Nandipha Magudumana aided Thabo Bester to escape from the Mangaung Prison, with help from the G4S security supervisor and Integriton's CCTV technician, Senohe Matsoara and Tebogo James Lipholo respectively, and Magudumana's father Zolile Sekeleni amongst others.
On 7 April 2023, Magudumana and Bester were detained in Arusha, Tanzania, heading towards the border of Kenya. After departing from South Africa, her passport was unstamped. That was one of the factors that led the court to declare her a potential flight risk. This declaration made sure she stayed in Bizzah Makhate Correctional Centre, Kroonstad women's prison. Instead of requesting bail, Magudumana filed an immediate application contesting her arrest, claiming it was unlawful and she was detained against her will. The court considered Magudumana's false address information in April, as she had given the police an address she had already vacated a month earlier, thus all signs indicated that Magudumana chose to depart the country on her own accord, abandoning her family and business to go with Bester.