Acting Western Cape High Court Judge Patrick Ntobeko Maqubela, who was found dead in his Bantry Bay apartment last week at the age of 60, commanded an Umkhonto weSizwe unit until being arrested and sentenced to 20 years in jail, in 1982. He came to prominence several years ago when Mo Shaik and Mac Maharaj alleged that the then head of the National Prosecuting Authority, Bulelani Ngcuka, had betrayed him to the security police.
Maqubela blew their allegation out of the water, saying they knew very well who had shopped him , and it was not Ngcuka. Maqubela was born in Qumbu in the Transkei, on March 30 1949. While at school he joined the Black Consciousness-aligned SA Students Organisation. He read law at Fort Hare university but was expelled for political activities. He was articled to Griffiths Mxenge, the Durban-based human rights lawyer who was assassinated by a police hit squad in 1981. In Umkhonto weSizwe, Maqubela’s unit, which planted bombs at targets such as an army recruitment centre in Durban, answered to Zweli Nyanda, brother of the current minister of telecommunications, Siphiwe Nyanda. Zweli Nyanda was killed when a squad under the command of Eugene de Kock raided the house where he was staying in Swaziland.
The man Maqubela suspected of betraying him was staying in the same house but vanished shortly before the raid. He was subsequently detained by the ANC in Lusaka before “committing suicide”. During his imprisonment, Maqubela was called “the godfather” by cellmates arrested with him because he was older than they were and had an air of authority and calming influence at a time when they thought they were going to be hanged.
After being released in 1991, he became the director of the SA Legal and Defence Fund until it folded in 1994. He served as legal adviser to several politicians, and SA Airways. He was made an acting judge last year. Maqubela is survived by his wife, Thandi, and five children.
Source: The Times
Showing posts with label Maqubela. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maqubela. Show all posts
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Judge may have been killed
The police are investigating the possibility that Western Cape High Court Acting Judge Patrick Maqubela was murdered, a spokesperson said on Tuesday. "The inquest investigation into the death of Acting Judge Patrick Maqubela has been altered to a murder investigation as a preliminary post-mortem could not determine the exact cause of death," said Superintendent Andre Traut. "A thorough investigation by Sea Point police revealed information and evidence which suggested that the angle of our investigations is directed to the possibility of a crime, and therefore the case docket has been changed to a murder investigation."
Traut said Maqubela's body was discovered at his Sea Point home at around 16:00 on Sunday after he failed to answer calls from concerned colleagues and family members. "He was found by security personnel of his residential complex lying in bed under circumstances which have appeared that foul play was not a factor."
An initial diagnosis by a state pathologist on the scene suggested that he had suffered a "severe heart attack" on Friday, said Traut. "On Monday, a post-mortem was conducted which could not accurately determine the cause of death, as the procedure was hampered by the state of decomposition of the body and organs. The result of further post-mortem tests is now awaited, to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the death of Maqubela," said Traut.
Further police investigations of the scene of his death revealed the possibility of criminal activity. "As yet, no suspects have been identified or arrested," said Traut. Maqubela was hearing the City of Cape Town's application to evict refugees from the Bluewaters camp near Muizenberg, set up last year after the outbreak of xenophobic violence.
Source: News 24
Traut said Maqubela's body was discovered at his Sea Point home at around 16:00 on Sunday after he failed to answer calls from concerned colleagues and family members. "He was found by security personnel of his residential complex lying in bed under circumstances which have appeared that foul play was not a factor."
An initial diagnosis by a state pathologist on the scene suggested that he had suffered a "severe heart attack" on Friday, said Traut. "On Monday, a post-mortem was conducted which could not accurately determine the cause of death, as the procedure was hampered by the state of decomposition of the body and organs. The result of further post-mortem tests is now awaited, to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the death of Maqubela," said Traut.
Further police investigations of the scene of his death revealed the possibility of criminal activity. "As yet, no suspects have been identified or arrested," said Traut. Maqubela was hearing the City of Cape Town's application to evict refugees from the Bluewaters camp near Muizenberg, set up last year after the outbreak of xenophobic violence.
Source: News 24
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Xeno refugees 'cheated UN'
Some xenophobia refugees in Cape Town cheated the United Nations (UN) of relief funds last year, according to an affidavit filed in the Cape High Court. The affidavit by city Housing Director Hans Smit, forms the basis of an application for the eviction of just under 400 people from the Bluewaters safety site on the Cape Flats. They are the last refugees remaining on city-owned property.
Smit said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees had given financial assistance to people displaced by last year's wave of xenophobic violence, for relocation or reintegration in the communities they left. This had been R1 500 for single people, and R3 000 for families of more than one person, paid in installments. The payments were made to displaced foreign nationals (DFNs) only when they left the city-run safety camps.
"Shortly after the implementation of the scheme it was discovered that it was being abused by some DFNs who, by altering their names, fraudulently procured the payment of allowances to them repeatedly," Smit said. "In addition, it was discovered that some DFNs were returning to live in the camps even after they had collected their relocation allowances."
When this emerged, administration of the payments was taken away from the staff of the Cape Town Refugee Centre, a Non-Governmental Organisation, and transferred to the city's camp managers. The eviction application lists 236 refugees at Bluewaters by name, and asks for an order against them as well as anyone else living there. City spokesperson Pieter Cronje said the names listed on the order were those of the adults. Children brought the number at the site to 397.
Smit said in his affidavit that the city gave them notice in October last year - it wanted them off the property, meant to be a holiday camp for members of the public. Over 20 000 displaced people had already been reintegrated into the communities they had been living in, but the Bluewaters group had "steadfastly refused to move."
He said that by refusing to reintegrate or relocate, they were trying to gain an unfair advantage over people on the city's housing waiting list, which had a backlog of 400 000. Giving them houses would set a bad precedent, he said. From the beginning of June to September last year, the city had spent more than R120 million on catering for the displaced foreigners, Smit said.
When the case was called in the High Court this morning, advocate for the city Ncumisa Mayosi told Acting Judge Patrick Maqubela that the matter had originally been unopposed. However, the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) had now informed the city it was representing some of the refugees. She asked for, and was granted, a postponement to June 9 to allow the LRC to compile a list of its clients. She said the city intended to press ahead with an unopposed application in respect of those refugees not on the LRC list. Maqubela ordered the refugees pay the "wasted costs" of today’s proceedings.
Smit said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees had given financial assistance to people displaced by last year's wave of xenophobic violence, for relocation or reintegration in the communities they left. This had been R1 500 for single people, and R3 000 for families of more than one person, paid in installments. The payments were made to displaced foreign nationals (DFNs) only when they left the city-run safety camps.
"Shortly after the implementation of the scheme it was discovered that it was being abused by some DFNs who, by altering their names, fraudulently procured the payment of allowances to them repeatedly," Smit said. "In addition, it was discovered that some DFNs were returning to live in the camps even after they had collected their relocation allowances."
When this emerged, administration of the payments was taken away from the staff of the Cape Town Refugee Centre, a Non-Governmental Organisation, and transferred to the city's camp managers. The eviction application lists 236 refugees at Bluewaters by name, and asks for an order against them as well as anyone else living there. City spokesperson Pieter Cronje said the names listed on the order were those of the adults. Children brought the number at the site to 397.
Smit said in his affidavit that the city gave them notice in October last year - it wanted them off the property, meant to be a holiday camp for members of the public. Over 20 000 displaced people had already been reintegrated into the communities they had been living in, but the Bluewaters group had "steadfastly refused to move."
He said that by refusing to reintegrate or relocate, they were trying to gain an unfair advantage over people on the city's housing waiting list, which had a backlog of 400 000. Giving them houses would set a bad precedent, he said. From the beginning of June to September last year, the city had spent more than R120 million on catering for the displaced foreigners, Smit said.
When the case was called in the High Court this morning, advocate for the city Ncumisa Mayosi told Acting Judge Patrick Maqubela that the matter had originally been unopposed. However, the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) had now informed the city it was representing some of the refugees. She asked for, and was granted, a postponement to June 9 to allow the LRC to compile a list of its clients. She said the city intended to press ahead with an unopposed application in respect of those refugees not on the LRC list. Maqubela ordered the refugees pay the "wasted costs" of today’s proceedings.
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