Celebrity Legal Stories in South Africa

Although Jayde Panayiotou’s murder gripped the headlines over a period of months, the Reeva Steenkamp murder case arguably remains the most famous crime in South Africa’s history. The young model died in cold blood at the hands of her celebrity Paralympian boyfriend, Oscar Pistorius. It was a story that caught the imagination of the world and was presumably the most talked about case since the OJ Simpson trial. The Pistorius trial made history in the South African judiciary when it was broadcast live on television.

Pistorius claimed he thought there was an intruder in the house when he discharged the lethal shots through a bathroom door that killed his 29-year-old girlfriend. Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide and sentenced to five-years behind bars at the Kgosi Mampuru Prison in Pretoria. Another murder case that made noise throughout the world is that of Anni Dewani, which made international headlines.

Newly married and on honeymoon in Cape Town in November 2010, the 28-year-old was killed in an aparent hijacking incident in Gugulethu township, in which her husband Shrien was unscathed. In 2012, Xolile Mngeni, Zola Tongo and Mziwamadoda Qwabe were imprisoned for the murder and Shrien, suspected of being the mastermind, was extradited to South Africa to stand trial. He was acquitted in the Western Cape High Court after Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso conceded an application for a discharge due to the poor quality of the prosecution’s evidence.

Lastly, another trial in Cape Town was that of the wife of Judge Patrick Maqubela, concluded nearly six years after the judge was found dead in his Bantry Bay apartment. His wife, Thandi was tried for the murder as well as fraud after she forged the judge’s signature on a will declaring her the sole beneficiary of his estate. Details of a marriage shaken by infidelity emerged during the trial. She was convicted in 2013 but sentencing was delayed for 16 months due to her legal issues.