Maqubela SMSes read out in court

2012-08-21 11:42

Thandi Maqubela. (Nardus Engelbrecht, Sapa)

Cape Town - Text messages sent by murder-accused Thandi Maqubela to her husband, acting Judge Patrick Maqubela, were read out in the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town, it was reported on Tuesday.

In some SMSes read out on Monday, sent from Maqubela's phone to the judge's phone, she apparently addresses a woman he had an affair with, the Cape Times reported.

The text sent in December 2007 read: "If you don't stop phoning my husband, you will regret it. The whole of South Africa will know how dirty you are. By the way, your clothes are still with me. I mean the filthy underwear I took from the hotel..."
Maqubela's body was found in his luxury apartment in Bantry Bay on 7 June 2009.

The State alleges he was suffocated, while the defence claims he died of natural causes.

At 13:51 on the day before he died, an SMS was sent from the judge's number to law firm partner Patrick Daly.

The SMS said: "[Patrick], I've been living a lie. The truth is about to come out. I once said I'm a walking corpse. I've been hiding the truth from myself..."

The State alleges that Maqubela had his cellphone in her possession after his death.

The trial continues on Tuesday.

- SAPA