Court grants Patel R250 000 bail

POLOKWANE – Rameez Patel, charged for the murder of his wife, Fatima, was granted R250 000 bail by the Polokwane magistrate’s court on Tuesday.

In addition, he has to report to the Westenburg police station three times a day while he is on bail. He is also not to leave his place of residence without written permission of the investigating officer, Const David Nkuna, unless it is for the purpose of taking his son to school, going to work or reporting to the police station. Patel will live with his parents, Firoz and Mehjabeen during his bail period. He is to refrain from contacting witnesses, the names of whom will be supplied to him by the court.

No complaint was received by the defence about the extraordinary high bail amount, and Patel’s friend, Schoeb Ahmed told reporters after the bail hearing that the amount was to be paid the same day so as to ensure Patel’s release. He admitted he was disappointed that the bail amount was so high, as Patel was only a 10% shareholder in the family business. Ahmed said Patel’s eldest son cried a lot and missed his dad and Patel’s parents were upset about the bail hearing dragging on.

Patel’s attorney, Tumi Mokwena, said he was relieved the bail hearing had been finalised, as it had taken a long time. He said he was concerned that the state would have arrested Patel without forensic evidence and with the statement being incomplete.

Magistrate Mohamed Shaik summarised the evidence before court and what happened during the lengthy hearing and said there were no signs of Patel trying to flee during the time he was not yet arrested. He said should Patel try to intimidate or try to talk to the witnesses that were to testify in the case, there were remedies for that and he could be incarcerated again.

Shaik dismissed Patel being a flight risk as his family and children, as well as business interests were in Polokwane. He set the amount for bail so high so as to make sure Patel would not want to forfeit the amount by fleeing, he said. He said there were no indications Patel would not comply with bail conditions. “Sometimes the public does not know a lot about the bail regime and legal implications.” Patel will appear in court on July 7.

Patel’s parents express their joy and happiness that he has been released on bail