Netflixthe entertainment platform seems to have found its Perfect formula: the Documentaries on real crimes. From “the Tinder’s scammer” to “unknown number”, the app showed that the stories of crimes, deceptions and double lives cause fascination at the audience.
Now, adds a new title that is already generating controversy and obsession in equal parts. “Beauty and The Bester”a miniseries that reconstructs one of the most scandalous criminal episodes in South Africa. With just three chapters, this production revives the incredible murderer’s leak Thabo Bester And his love relationship with the doctor Nandipha Magudumana, who risked his career, and freedom, for Help him escape.
The suspense mixture, emotional manipulation, romance and institutional corruption made this case a media phenomenonand now in the new success of the platform, reaching the Top 10 of the most watched at its premiere.
Trailer of “La Bella y Bester”, available in Netflix
What is “Bella and Bester”?
The documentary miniseries narrates the rise and fall of Thabo Besterknown as “The Facebook rapist” for attracting its victims through social networks, and condemned ACAdena Perpetua in 2017 for two sexual abuse and a murder.
The criminal became a feared figure in South Africa, but his story took a turn in 2022, when he was declared dead After a fire in your cell in the Correctional Mangaung center. A carbonized body appeared in the place, but inconsistencies in the autopsy, such as height difference, ignited the suspicions.
Bella and Bester
Shortly after, a journalistic investigation revealed that the presidency was another person and that Bestter had escapedwith the help of her partner, the doctor Nandipha Magudumana. For almost a year they lived with false identities In Johannesburg, until in 2023 they were captured in Tanzania.
The new production combines File images and unpublished testimonies to show how a relationship that seemed loving resulted in one of the boldest leaks in history, leaving the Penitentiary system failures of this country.
Disputes for the publication of the documentary in Netflix
The premiere of the series was not exempt from controversy. On August 20, 2025, Netflix announced the launch date of the series, scheduled for September 12, and published its trailer on social networks. And the day before it came to light in the app, Bester and Magudumana presented a court order before the Superior Court of Pretoria to prevent the documentary from being issued and promoted.
Bella and Bester2
His lawyers alleged that the content was defamatory and that he portrayed the criminal as an “inhuman beast” without his consent. The streaming platform defended arguing that Magudumana had received a payment for accessing his personal archives and that production was based on public information compiled from reports and parliamentary debates.
Netflix’s lawyer, Ngcukaitobi aprotohe stressed that it would be a dangerous precedent to block a documentary of public interest. Finally, the judge failed in favor of the app, noting that the protagonists could start Demand demands Only after issuance, but not censor it in advance.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
