The two Boland rugby players accused of killing flyhalf Riaan Loots will have to wait until after Christmas to know their fate, Independent Online reported on Tuesday.
The Worcester Regional Court granted the state a further postponement to give it time to receive a comprehensive doctor’s report on Loots’s injuries.
This will also allow time for a Boland Rugby Union disciplinary hearing on the matter to run its course.
Loots died after being declared brain dead following a match between his team, Rawsonville, and the Delicious club of Ceres on June 23.
Delicious players Ben Zimri (26) of Ceres and Wayne Matthee (19) of Paarl, have been charged with his murder.
They have appeared on several occasions at a make-shift court room at the Rawsonville police station.
On their first appearance at the Worcester Regional Court on Tuesday, members of their rugby club gathered outside in a show of support.
Earlier, a lawyer representing the Delicious club at the disciplinary hearing claimed Loots’s own players were to blame for his death.
”He was never beaten to death. He was never kicked to death. After consulting with all our players, that’s the only version we can forward,” argued the lawyer Martin Green.
Zimri and Matthee were released on a warning on Tuesday and told to appear again on January 16. — Sapa