Wife wanted to 'out' cheating judge
2011-11-02 21:01
Cape Town - The widow of slain judge Patrick Maqubela was "determined to go public" about her husband's love affairs, the Western Cape High Court heard on Wednesday.
Justice Minister Jeff Radebe told the court of a meeting Thandi Maqubela arranged with him in his Cape Town office on June 4 2009 - a day before her husband's death.
Maqubela and co-accused Vela Mabena are on trial before Judge John Murphy for the murder of her husband. Both have pleaded not guilty.
She is also charged with fraud and forgery relating to an alleged forged will in her husband's name which she presented to the Master of the High Court in Johannesburg.
Radebe told the court the widow asked him for an appointment to discuss "sensitive stuff".
Because he had known the slain judge so well, Radebe agreed to the meeting but did not know what she meant by "sensitive stuff".
Radebe said he did not inform the judge about the intended meeting with his wife.
"She told me that her husband was having an affair with a woman in Bloemfontein, and another affair with a different woman in Johannesburg, and produced documentary proof of them."
On one occasion, the widow found her husband in a hotel room in Bloemfontein with a woman, and on another with another woman in a hotel room in Cape Town.
Radebe said Maqubela had all the information about the affairs during their meeting, such as cellphone calls, SMSes and hotel invoices.
She told Radebe that she had been investigating the affairs for two to three years.
Maqubela told Radebe of a confrontation that she had with the woman in Bloemfontein, and with the woman's family.
The confrontation had left the woman and her family shocked, Radebe said.
The trial continues.
- SAPA
