THE defense in the Hillary Gardee matter was dealt a heavy blow on Tuesday, 11 April.
This is after the judge denied the four men accused of the murder of Hillary Gardee a postponement.
Sipho Mkhatshwa (40), Philemon Lukhele (48), Mduduzi Gama (53) and Rassie Nkune (37) appeared in the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court in Mbombela.
Gardee was reported missing in April last year and her lifeless body was found dumped in a timber plantation between Mbombela and Lydenburg in Mpumalanga.
A lawyer representing Mkhatshwa, Lukhele and Gama attempted to persuade judge President, Francois Legodi, for a further delay, citing that his instructing attorney, Lesego Kwakwa, had a family emergency in a form of a bereavement.
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Legodi didn't buy it. He told advocate Musa Sithebe that the matter was ready for trial as stated by the defense and the state previously, and therefore should proceed.
Earlier, Sithebe told the court that they are intending to file an application for representation to the director of public prosecution in Mpumalanga to withdraw all charges leveled against Mkhatshwa, Lukhele and Gama.
He stated that information received from the state leading to the cellphone records of accused one and in terms of the information given by the police, the accused's cellphone number never had any contact with the deceased and they were never in the same area.
Sithebe added that based on accused two, he was incorrectly identified by the police as Bongani Lukhele instead of being identified as Philemon Lukhele.
"When the deceased went to Bongani Lukhele's property to fix the WiFi, the police incorrectly identified Mr Philemon Lukhele as Bongani and that's how his name came to the point at the day of the arrest,“ he said.
He also added that accused three was not in close proximity to where Gardee was when she was allegedly killed.
Meanwhile, Legodi said it was on the basis that the court convened as a judicial base management case court on 14 March 2023.
"This was done to ensure that come 11 April we do not have hiccups. We have tried to do so and we failed. This matter should have been laid before Judge Ratshivhumo. The application for postponement is hereby refused," he said.
Legodi further made an order that Kwakwa must state full reasons as to why he was not in court on the day of the beginning of the trial. He said he must also submit an affidavit explaining the details of his bereavement and why he should not be reported to the Legal Practice Council. The matter was postponed to Wednesday, 12 April for the trial to proceed.
