Before Groton, he spent 26 years at Phillips Academy (Andover), eventually rising to faculty dean and assistant head of school for academics.

[1] Maqubela's maternal grandfather was Z. K. Matthews, the first Botswanan ambassador to the United States and the first black graduate of a South African university.

[citation needed] Maqubela attended St. John's College, Mtatha, a South African boarding school where his mother was a teacher.

He took advantage of the chaos caused by the Soweto Uprising to escape to Botswana,[1] where he obtained political asylum, and then moved to Nigeria for university.

During the 1985 Raid on Gaborone, Maqubela and his family narrowly escaped being killed when the South African military assaulted the wrong house.

To make ends meet, Maqubela briefly worked as a coat checker at the American Museum of Natural History and moved his family into a homeless shelter.

[11] He is a co-founder and board director of Masibumbane Development Organisation, an NGO established in 2010 to serve the populations of the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

[citation needed] He also serves on the advisory council of the African Leadership Academy, a pan-African secondary institution.