More witnesses to be called in Maqubela sentencing

More witnesses are expected to be called in mitigation of sentence of convicted killer Thandi Maqubela in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday.

On Monday, Thomas Tyler for Maqubela called Beatrice Khakhaza, 71, onto the stand.

Khakhaza had managed Maqubela's leather goods store in Claremont, Cape Town, and then her hair salons around Cape Town.

She said Maqubela had wanted to open a retirement home in Johannesburg and Cape Town and had hated seeing anyone suffering.

The court heard that Maqubela helped her employees pay for their children's school uniforms and goods without deducting it from their salaries.

When she changed her business focus, she gave a hair salon away to a loyal employee as a gift and closed the others.

Khakhaza said Maqubela took out retirement policies for her.

When Maqubela travelled to her late husband's homestead in the Eastern Cape, she was dissatisfied with the conditions his mother and two sisters were living in and had building material delivered to them from Johannesburg.

When Khakhaza went there for a funeral, she saw a "mansion" had been built.

Khakhaza became emotional when asked how the trial had affected Maqubela, saying it had "disabled" her.

"She is not herself. That is why I am so upset."

In November 2013, the same court found Maqubela guilty of killing her husband, acting judge Patrick Maqubela, 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.