Cross examination for Maqubela's social worker

On Thursday, Prosecutor Bonnie Currie-Gamwo called acting judge Patrick Maqubela's son Duma because he had flown in from the Eastern Cape for the day.

  
At the time she said she would cross-examine social worker Arina Smit, who was called as a defence witness on Wednesday, at a later stage.
   

Duma said Thandi Maqubela should be sentenced to 20 years in prison for Patrick's death in 2009.
   

He said one family member had wished the death penalty was an option.
   

Currie-Gamwo had asked how he felt about Smit's suggestion that Maqubela get a wholly suspended sentence or periodical imprisonment.
   

Smit, a defence witness, had recommended this in a 50-page report she compiled after looking at relevant documents and interviewing Thandi Maqubela and relatives.
   

Duma Maqubela said it would be highly insensitive of the court to take Thandi Maqubela's personal circumstances into account and not that of the family or society.
   

Last November, the same court found Maqubela guilty of killing her husband in June 2009, despite not having conclusive medical evidence pinpointing a cause of death.
   

She was found guilty of forging her husband's will and committing fraud by causing potential prejudice to his estate.
   

Duma Maqubela said the death had been tough for the family, and made worse by the unnecessary complications around his estate.

 

 

 

File photo: Gallo Images