Every time Acting Judge Patrick Maqubela went to see his doctor, he asked for Viagra, his physician has testified.
|||Cape Town - Every time Acting Judge Patrick Maqubela went to see his doctor, he asked for Viagra.
His physician said he had tended to the late judge every six months.
The 60-year-old acting judge was healthy and active, said specialist physician Sidney Brett who examined the judge weeks before his body was found. On Monday, Brett testified at the murder trial of Thandi Maqubela, accused of killing her husband.
Court proceedings were transferred from the Western Cape High Court to the Taj Hotel in the CBD so Brett, 84, could testify via a video link-up from Joburg. The doctor, who has more than 60 years of experience, was advised not to travel.
The State alleges Maqubela was suffocated with cling film but his widow argues he died of natural causes.
Brett, a specialist physician since 1956, had been the acting judge’s attending doctor since 2006. He said he had examined the acting judge a total of 14 times.
Brett said that when Maqubela first came to see him, he was already on treatment for hypertension, but his blood pressure was “good” and fairly low with each follow-up visit.
The doctor had last tended to Maqubela on May 15, 2009 – a few weeks before his body was found in his Bantry Bay flat on June 7.
The doctor had conducted tests, including an ECG and stress test.
Maqubela was found to have had eczema on his groin. He had not exercised for about 10 months and had gained weight, but nothing was “abnormal”. At that time, Maqubela had weighed 78kg, and his body mass index was 26 percent – not overweight.
State advocate Pedro van Wyk asked: “How would you describe his health?” Brett replied: “He was in very good health for his age…”
During cross-examination defence advocate Marius Broeksma
asked whether Brett had given Maqubela Viagra. He replied: “I did. He always asked for it, every time he saw me.”
He said the judge did not want the Viagra on his record.
Despite Broeksma’s suggestion that cardio risks were associated with Viagra, Brett said it could not be a cause of death.
Broeksma asked Brett whether he was familiar with the condition “sudden cardiac death”. Brett said it was usually common in young people with “inherited conditions”.
The trial continues.
Cape Argus