Oscar, 'Black Widow' who killed judge husband and other sensational matters to be heard or finalised as courts brace for 2016, write Philani Nombembe and Aarti J Narsee Five cases involving the death of an intimate partner are set to dominate the court scene this year.Paralympian Oscar Pistorius will return to the High Court in Pretoria in April for a fresh sentence after the Supreme Court of Appeal replaced his culpable homicide conviction with murder. He killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in his Pretoria home on Valentine's Day in 2013. Pistorius was scheduled to approach the Constitutional Court for a fresh appeal.Sindisiwe Manqele, convicted of stabbing to death her boyfriend, Skwatta Kamp star Nkululeko "Flabba" Habedi, will be sentenced in the High Court sitting in Randburg in March.mini_story_image_hleft1Meanwhile, the woman dubbed "Black Widow", Thandi Maqubela, is appealing against her murder conviction. The High Court in Cape Town handed Maqubela an 18-year sentence for killing her husband, Acting Judge Patrick Maqubela, in 2009 and for forging his signature on a will that declared her the sole beneficiary of his estate.First out of the starting blocks, however, will be Port Elizabeth businessman Christopher Panayiotou, who is due back in court this month in connection with ordering a hit on his wife, Jayde. The Eastern Cape teacher was abducted outside her Kabega Park townhouse complex in April 2015 and her body was found a few days later, dumped in a field.On January 21, Guatemalan playboy Diego Novella will be back in court, charged with murdering his American girlfriend, Gabriela Alban, in a Camps Bay hotel in July.But it's not all about crimes of passion. A series of courtroom dramas is expected between the DA and President Jacob Zuma this year.The DA's challenge of a 2009 decision by the National Prosecuting Authority to stop the prosecution of Zuma and the Nkandla saga will be in court in February and March.Zuma also has to deal with the DA's court challenge seeking to compel him to suspend Advocate Nomgcobo Jiba, the deputy national director of public prosecutions.The NPA dropped corruption charges against Zuma in 2009 after Mokotedi Mpshe, the acting head of the NPA at the time, found that intercepted phone calls between Leonard McCarthy, head of the Scorpions at the time, and former national director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka had tainted the case.mini_story_image_vright2The DA joined the EFF in its Constitutional Court challenge to force Zuma to pay back some of the money spent on the upgrades on his Nkandla home as directed by public protector Thuli Madonsela.In yet another court challenge, the DA wants Zuma to suspend Jiba pending a commission of inquiry into her fitness to hold office. The high court and the appeal court said Jiba was dishonest and had displayed unbecoming conduct. This was in connection with her conduct in the spy tapes debacle, the dropping of charges against suspended crime intelligence boss Lieutenant Richard Mdluli, and the investigation into KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Johan Booysen."We have the Jiba matter in the beginning of February and then the Nkandla matter on February 9 in the Constitutional Court," said DA federal executive chairman James Selfe. "And then on the first, second and third of March is the full bench of the North Gauteng High Court [in Pretoria] dealing with the question of rationality of discontinuing prosecution against Jacob Zuma."Lawyer William da Grass said South African courts were "extremely busy" by nature - which was indicative of a dynamic legal system ."2016 by all accounts is going to be a very dynamic year and new cases are making their way onto our court rolls every day," he added."Many things involving the Presidency and the executive have far-reaching effects for our country. But one thing that we have to be grateful about is that at least we have a very independent judiciary. That is one thing that South Africans can be proud of - a fearless bench."sub_head_start Other cases to watch out for sub_head_end• Amukelani Rikhotso, the driver involved in the car crash that led to public service and administration minister Collins Chabane's death in March, faces three charges of culpable homicide and one of driving under the influence of alcohol. Chabane died with his bodyguards, sergeants Lesiba Sekele and Lawrence Lentsoane, when Rikhotso's truck allegedly made a U-turn on the N1 between Mokopane and Polokwane;• The woman accused of stealing Zephany Nurse 18 years ago will be tried in the High Court in Cape Town. She faces charges of fraud, kidnapping and contravening sections of the Children's Act;• Artist Zwelethu Mthethwa is on trial in the High Court in Cape Town, accused of bludgeoning sex worker Nokuphila Kumalo to death in Woodstock in 2013. The incident was allegedly captured by CCTV cameras. Mthethwa disputes the authenticity of the footage.• Embattled SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng is pulling out all the stops to keep his job. The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that his appointment was irregular and ordered the SABC to discipline him, and the High Court in Cape Town set his appointment aside. Public protector Thuli Madonsela found that Motsoeneng irregularly increased his salary and misrepresented his matric qualifications. He has appealed to the Constitutional Court. An SABC disciplinary hearing cleared Motsoeneng, but the DA is to approach the courts to have the hearing reviewed; and• Robert McBride, the head of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, is looking to the Constitutional Court for his reinstatement, after a high court ruling that Police Minister Nathi Nhleko had acted unlawfully by instituting a disciplinary hearing and suspending him. However, the court's decision has to be confirmed by the Constitutional Court. McBride was suspended in March over the illegal deportation of five Zimbabweans wanted for murder in that country. He was accused of interfering with an Ipid report probing whether former Hawks head Anwa Dramat was behind the renditions...