One of the murder trials against businessman Rameez Patel resumes on Wednesday in the Polokwane High Court in Limpopo.
Patel is accused of the 2015 murder of his first wife Fatima Patel. She was found bludgeoned to death at the family home in Nirvana, Polokwane.
He was also implicated in orchestrating the murder of his mother, Mahajeen Banu-Patel in 2017, however, the charge has been provisionally withdrawn due to the unavailability of state witnesses.
In the last appearance in September, Judge Joseph Raulinga expressed his unhappiness over the delays in finalising the case.
In the last cycle of the trial, the defence brought in three expert witnesses, including a security expert and two medical experts in an attempt to exonerate Patel.
The trial could not resume for all the days it was set aside for due to load shedding.
It is unclear whether it will be further postponed.
Patel has been out on bail of R250 000.
In the report below, the impact of rolling blackouts on Patel’s murder trial:
