Netflix Documentary on South African Rapist Approved by Court

Tue Oct 21 2025 22:40:53 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

A recent court ruling allows Netflix to release a documentary about Thabo Bester, a convicted rapist, despite his attempts to block it citing potential defamation.

Thabo Bester, dubbed the 'Facebook rapist', has been denied a court injunction to halt the release of the Netflix documentary 'Beauty and the Bester'. The documentary explores his criminal history, including a dramatic prison escape after allegedly faking his own death. Bester's attempts to argue defamation were dismissed by the court, which stated the case is of public interest. He awaits trial on multiple charges after being captured in Tanzania.

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.

She however said that the pair would still be free to sue for defamation if they wished, after the documentary airs. It is due to be released later on Friday.

Bester was convicted in 2012 for the rape and murder of his model girlfriend Nomfundo Tyhulu and was found guilty of raping and robbing two other women a year earlier.

Bester became known as the Facebook rapist for using the social networking site to lure his victims. He was serving a life sentence when he allegedly escaped from a maximum security prison in 2022, following a fire that led authorities to discover a charred body, initially thought to be Bester's.

After eluding capture for a year, Bester allegedly lived under an alias in Johannesburg, aided by Magudumana, before the couple was arrested in Tanzania in April 2023 and deported back to South Africa. They currently face multiple charges, including violating a corpse, defeating the ends of justice, and fraud.

The court determined that Bester and Magudumana had created a self-created urgency and had ample time to file their application. The judge stated the applications lacked urgency and left the door open for the duo to seek legal redress after the documentary airs.