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Thandi Maqubela appeals her conviction

Thandi Maqubela. Picture credit: Esa Alexander
Thandi Maqubela. Picture credit: Esa Alexander

Thandi Maqubela, who is serving an 18-year jail term for killing her estranged husband acting judge Patrick Ntobeko Maqubela in June 2009, wants to be cleared of the murder conviction.

She has approached the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to overturn her conviction because prosecutors did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that her husband was murdered.

Maqubela says prosecutors did not prove that her husband did not die of natural causes.

During Maqubela's trial at the Western Cape High Court, defence witness and University of Pretoria forensic medicine professor Gert Saayman said the acting judge may have died of natural causes and possibly due to his enlarged heart.

She also claims that the high court should not have amended the charge sheet to allege that her husband died from a cause unknown to the state and still convicted her of murder.

Maqubela's lawyers objected to the amendments, saying they prejudiced their client.

Lamprecht Attorneys, the law firm representing Maqubela, has asked for the matter to be re-enrolled for the court's third term.

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