Maqubela trial: State sniffs a rat

For Thandi Maqubela, life was like a box of chocolates. Every time she bit into one it had a different centre.

When she began dating acting judge Patrick Maqubela, he not only failed to tell her that he had two children, but also omitted to say that he was married.

But the biggest surprise supposedly came at his funeral - when a woman her late husband always claimed to be a relative's daughter proved to be his own flesh and blood.

Maqubela is standing trial in the Cape Town High Court for the murder of her husband and for allegedly forging his signature on a will that named her as the main beneficiary of his estate.

At the time of his death in June 2009, he was an acting judge in the same court where his wife is being tried.

Under cross-examination yesterday, Maqubela said their relationship endured many trying times.

The first blow came when he was arrested for political activities during apartheid - and she only discovered at his trial that he was a married man. The two were dating at the time. They went on to marry after his release and had two daughters.

Maqubela said in the 1990s he introduced her to Phathiwe Singaphi, who he said was the daughter of a relative.

She testified that at his funeral, when all his children were called to the podium, Singaphi's true identity was exposed.

But prosecutor Bonnie Currie-Gamwo disputed Maqubela's version of events.

She handed to court extracts from Memories in Letters, a collection of Patrick Maqubela's letters while he was in prison.

A letter from the acting judge's mother revealed that the accused had already raised questions about Singaphi's paternity in 1986.

Maqubela also said her husband was bipolar and promiscuous.

"My husband had an addiction; he just slept with anyone he came into contact with. At first I thought it was affairs. It was a behavioural challenge," said Maqubela.

Despite all these purported flaws, Maqubela said she never considered divorce.

Judge John Murphy adjourned the matter until tomorrow when a handwriting expert will deliver testimony related to the signature on the will.

The state alleges that the acting judge was suffocated with plastic cling film. Maqubela and her co-accused, Vela Mabhena ,have pleaded not guilty and maintained that he died of natural causes.