POLOKWANE – Murder accused Rameez Patel may not travel domestically without a permitting court order from the presiding judge in his case.
This new condition added to his bail regulations which were first granted in 2020, was added by judge Joseph Raulinga in the Limpopo High Court on Tuesday, after the dismissal of two consolidated applications made by the defence.
Read more: Judge dismisses two more Rameez Patel applications
Patel had through his legal counsel, applied for relaxed bail conditions in order to travel domestically to attend to family and business matters. In the other appeal matter, which was also denied, Patel’s counsel asked that his brother Razeen, who is a key state witness, be called back to testify for the defence.
In the most recent hearing, the defence expressed an interest to appeal the rulings in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), and immediately requested for a transcript from the court, which will be made available by August 13.
This was to reflect verbatim statements on their reasons for the application before the SCA, the defence indicated.
Read more: Judge breaks his silence over lengthy Rameez Patel murder trial
Patel is on trial for the murder of his wife in 2015. The murder charge brought against him for the death of his mother, was provisionally withdrawn in 2021 due to a lack of evidence.
Although never linked to these incidents, Patel’s father was shot and killed in a robbery, and his brother survived an attempt on his life in Mankweng.
In 2019, Patel brought an application for leave to have him discharged in his wife’s murder case, but this was dismissed.
The defence is expected to apply for leave to appeal by August 31.
The next court appearance is scheduled for September 19.
