No further postponements will be granted to the state to allow for the testimony of Roger Kebble, father of slain mining magnate Brett Kebble, the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg heard on Monday.
“My considered view … is that in the interests of justice and the speedy resolution of matter … the state be ordered to proceed with the leading of evidence,” Judge Frans Kgomo said.
Kebble senior failed to appear before Kgomo to testify on Monday, because of a heart condition.
The prosecution has described Roger Kebble as a key witness.
Kgomo said Kebble was a “periphery witness” and the state could call him if it saw fit later.
He denied the state a further postponement and did not pronounce at all on the state’s bid to have its own doctors examine him. Kgomo ruled the trial should proceed “in the interest of justice”.
The matter was rolled over to Tuesday when investigating officer Pieter van Heerden was expected to take the stand.
Agliotti is on trial for Brett Kebble’s killing five years ago, as he allegedly paid the hit men. He claims it was an “assisted suicide”.
Brett Kebble was shot dead in his car in Melrose, Johannesburg, on the night of September 27 2005. — Sapa