R100 000 bail reinstated for Maqubela
2011-09-16 19:00
Cape Town - Bail of R100 000 was reinstated on Friday for Thandi Maqubela, accused of killing her husband, acting judge Patrick Maqubela.
Maqubela's bail was revoked and provisionally forfeited to the State when she failed to appear in the Western Cape High Court for a preliminary hearing in July.
State advocate Bonnie Currie-Gambo, who will prosecute Maqubela when her trial starts next month, has called for a full inquiry into Maqubela's absence.
Maqubela, at her previous court appearance after her re-arrest at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, said she had taken ill and was admitted there on the very day she was due to appear in court in Cape Town.
She had been due for cross-examination at Friday's proceedings, but instead the prosecution team, which included state advocate Pedro van Wyk, accepted Maqubela's explanation.
No further proceedings took place in open court, although there were several meetings in the judge's chambers.
New bail conditions
When the court finally reconvened on Friday, Currie-Gambo said the matter was on the roll to see if the bail inquiry could be resolved - which it had.
A court order was drafted by defence attorney Howard Rubenstein, which placed Maqubela under house arrest in Strand, Cape Town, until her case was finalised.
Johannesburg Judge John Murphy, who had been seconded to preside in the trial in Cape Town, declared Maqubela's bail reinstated.
Her new bail conditions require her to be confined to her residence in the Strand at night, and prohibits her from leaving her house during the day, except to attend her trial, or for trial preparations. She has to report daily to the Strand police, and may not leave the Strand district without permission.
Rubenstein said advocate Marius Broeksma and attorney Randall Titus had been appointed by Legal Aid authorities as Maqubela's legal team for the trial itself.
A final pre-trial conference had been scheduled for September 23 to ensure all was in order for the start the trial on October 10.
- SAPA