Dr Nandipha Magudumana Picture: screenshot from SABC TV news
Dr Nandipha Magudumana is awaiting a ruling on her application to have her arrest and extradition declared unlawful.
She claims that she was abducted and her legal team appeared in the Free State High Court on Friday. The judge presiding over the case announced that the judgment on Magudumana's appeal will be delivered on July 18.
Magudumana was arrested in Tanzania alongside Thabo Bester, a convicted rapist and killer who had escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Centre.
They were apprehended near the Kenyan border in April of this year. Last month, Magudumana's application to appeal was dismissed by the Bloemfontein High Court.
The judge, Philip Loubser, acknowledged that Magudumana's deportation was an extradition that lacked proper process, but noted that she willingly participated in the process and expressed her desire to return to South Africa to be with her children.
The court's decision on Magudumana's case could impact the case against Bester and the remaining accused.
If the court rules in her favor, she may be removed as an accused in the case temporarily, but could be re-added at a later stage if proper procedures are followed and she is rearrested and brought before the court.
Magudumana's legal team believes they have reasonable prospects of success in the event that the court does not rule in her favour, and they are prepared to take the matter to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Her legal team also dismissed claims that she was receiving special treatment in the facility where she is being held.
The ruling on Magudumana's appeal will provide further clarity on the legality of her arrest and extradition, and the subsequent proceedings in her case.
IOL