Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride appeared in the Pretoria Regional Court on Monday on a matter related to his drunken-driving trial.
The proceedings were postponed until October 16 to allow his lawyers time to study documents McBride had requested to assist his defence.
McBride was previously denied access to the statements made by state witnesses Itumeleng Koko, Stanley Sagathevan and Patrick Johnson. He however won a subsequent appeal to the High Court on September 11.
State prosecutor Christo Roberts told Magistrate Peet Johnson that he gave copies of the documents to McBride’s lawyer, Roshan Dehal, on Monday morning.
Dehal confirmed he had received a brown envelope which contained documents, but had yet to ascertain if they were the ones requested.
Johnson postponed the matter until October 16, stipulating that before then he wanted a letter from the defence stating that the documents were the ones requested and that it was ready to begin trial.
McBride — wearing a white shirt, green tie and navy blue suit — arrived in court before 9am and waited patiently until proceedings began just before 11am.
The cases involving two other people connected to McBride’s drunken-driving trial were also provisionally postponed for trial until October 16 on Monday.
Dr Joseph Morolong Moratioa, wearing a green suit, appeared in Court E, while former metro police officer Hendrik Degenaar, simply dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, appeared in Court A.
Moratioa faces charges of defrauding the state after he allegedly claimed to have examined McBride after the accident in December 2006. When the legal teams asked for a provisional postponement, saying the matter was influenced by the McBride’s trial, Magistrate Peet van Vuuren expressed frustration and said it was taking ”too long”.
”I don’t want to hear about that case … I’ve got no sympathy.”
He said Moratioa was entitled to a speedy trial but however agreed to postpone the matter until October.
The case against Degenaar — who allegedly assaulted a witness at the scene of McBride’s accident — was also postponed. – Sapa