The Pretoria High Court has postponed the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial due to the unavailability of an interpreter.
There was a long wait in the courtroom on Tuesday until state advocate George Baloyi informed the presiding judge that the interpreter was not available. He told the judge that his team has requested the services of another interpreter.
However, the new interpreter was in another court about 83km away from Pretoria, making it impossible for the replacement to make it to the high court on time.
“An alternate interpreter was arranged but unfortunately he is currently in the Palm Ridge court, which is approximately 83 kilometres away from this court,” Baloyi said.
Judge Tshifiwa Maumela, who is under pressure to conclude the matter, decided to postpone the matter overnight.
Maumela acknowledged that the postponement, even by a day, is unfortunate because delays are costly, urging the legal teams to ensure that they communicate on time to avoid unnecessary delays.
“All I can say is that, it is unfortunate that things have to turn out this way. It inconveniences people even beyond what we see ordinarily,” said Maumela.
“For everybody to be here, its an effort, and on the part of the accused it might even have financial consequences. In future let us avoid this … communication should be on time enough for arrangements to be made.
“We do not have the services of an interpreter at our disposal, and we have no option but to postpone for today … to the 10th of May 2023”.
Also read: Doubts raised over Thwala’s account of events in Meyiwa murder
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