Sindisiwe Manqele was “genuinely in love” with Nkululeko “Flabba” Habedi‚ but the relationship was plagued by jealousy and obsession‚ those close to the couple say. On March 9‚ the woman who had been dating the rapper since her teen years‚ stabbed him in the chest before trying to kill herself when she realised her "Nkuli" was dead.Manqele‚ 26‚ pleaded not guilty to murder. She told the Johannesburg High Court that she did not want to kill Habedi‚ 37‚ but stabbed him to get away during a fight.Her trial has been postponed to next month to allow her lawyers to call a pathologist from Swaziland as a witness.In an exclusive interview with Sowetan last week‚ Habedi’s family and friends said the couple had a genuine relationship.Nkululeko Chauke‚ who had been friends with Habedi for more than a decade and was a state witness‚ said he did not believe the 17-year-old Manqele was first attracted to Habedi because of his fame or money.Manqele testified that she did not know that Habedi was married when she met him.“I found out in the newspaper. He told me that they [he and his wife] were going through stuff and were not together‚" Manqele said.Habedi's cousin Luyanda Siluba said: “She [became] part of the family‚ but there was always an element of obsession in her.”Siluba said Manqele would get upset if Habedi left with the “boys” to have fun without her.“I remember this one time‚ when Nkuli had a second child‚ she said to him‚ ‘Oh‚ while I am busy studying in Ireland you are busy impregnating whores’‚” Siluba said.Witnesses testified that jealousy played a role in the couple's argument on the night of Habedi's death after he spoke to an ex-girlfriend at a club where they attended a birthday party.Manqele told the court that she was not "the jealous type".Chauke rubbished this as “ridiculous because everyone knew she was jealous”.“We knew she would do anything to protect her relationship‚” Siluba said.Manqele later conceded to prosecutor Paul Schutte that any woman would be jealous if their partner was having multiple sexual relationships with other women.She allegedly found text messages from three different women Habedi was involved with.Clinical psychologist and criminologist Craig Traub said Manqele may have reacted angrily to Habedi's infidelity.“She may have thought she was 'special'‚ but all evidence‚ such as provocative messages to other women‚ and the suggestion of a long-awaited divorce‚ pointed to the contrary‚” Traub said.But Manqele said it was Habedi's insecurity about his financial woes that led to the fight.She said Habedi would often talk about how broke he was and that he was worried that he could not provide for her.She said during the argument‚ Habedi kept saying that his financial situation was the reason that she was chatting to other men at the club.Traub said financial stressors tend to tug on the “strings” holding a relationship together.“If Manqele loaned her possibly cheating boyfriend money‚ [her] multiple illusions of notoriety‚ being special‚ and that sacrifice changes unfaithful men‚ may have been forcefully shattered.”Manqele's family declined interviews. - TMG Courts and Law..