Cape Town - A fax about sex sent to the Western Cape High Court administration during investigations into the death of acting judge Patrick Maqubela took centre stage in court on Wednesday.
The fax was mentioned during cross-examination of the judge's widow Thandi Maqubela in the Western Cape High Court.
Prosecutor Bonnie Currie-Gamwo put it to Maqubela that she sent the fax from an internet cafe in Pretoria hoping it would stop the investigation.
Maqubela denied this.
The fax reads: “I was his regular girl. He died while we were having sex, it is as simple as all that.
“Security or no high security at the complex where the judge lived, we had a way of doing what we wanted to do. Of course, as a judge, he was connected with the police for his sexual activities.
“Why does the government waste so much money investigating a sex worker judge, who is all of a sudden a saint?
“As his regular call girl, he maintained me. I know about his death. I had access to his house in Cape Town, in Johannesburg, you name it.
“Judge Maqubela murdered, poisoned and all sorts of things,” the fax reads.
Maqubela and her business associate, Vela Mabena, have pleaded not guilty before Judge John Murphy and assessor Danie Marais, to the alleged murder of her husband, an acting judge in the Western Cape High Court, in June, 2009.
His body was found in the bedroom of his luxury Bantry Bay apartment.
Maqubela is also charged with fraud and forgery, relating to a fake will purporting to be his, with his signature forged on it, which was presented to the Johannesburg office of the Master of the High Court.
The State alleges he was suffocated with a piece of plastic cling-wrap. Maqubela claims that her husband died from natural causes.
Currie-Gamwo told Maqubela the fax was sent from the Fountains Internet Cafe.
Currie-Gamwo asked Maqubela: “How do you answer to the fact that you were in the vicinity of the cafe at the time the fax was sent, according to your cellphone mapping records?”
Maqubela said she did not know.
Currie-Gamwo added: “I put it to you that you in fact sent the fax yourself, to the Western Cape High Court.”
Maqubela denied this, and said she did not use “inferior methods of communication”.
Currie-Gamwo continued: “And you did so, aware of the murder investigation, because you wanted to stop it.”
Maqubela said she had wanted the investigation to continue. She agreed her husband had died without a will, and that his estate was declared intestate by the Master’s office.
Currie-Gamwo said the estate was worth at least R20 million.
When asked why she had made no effort initially to locate any will, Maqubela replied: “Money is not a problem with me, I know how to make money. Money is not an issue.”
She was appointed the estate's executor, but then she was required to deposit R20 million security once it became known a murder investigation was underway.
Maqubela was unable to provide the security, and her appointment was withdrawn.
It turned out that, after her appointment, she discovered a will in a box containing documents and books.
The trial continues. - Sapa