The senior regional magistrate from Makhado (Louis Trichardt) accused of accepting a bribe to influence a court case, was postponed for the umpteenth time.

Senior regional magistrate Ronnie Rambau appeared in the Messina Magistrate’s Court last Thursday (1st), together with his co-accused, ex-prosecutor Estene Willemse and attorney Tivoneleni Edmond Lubisi. The trio made the headlines three years ago when Rambau was arrested during a police trap. They were charged with corruption for allegedly influencing several court cases by means of predetermining the outcome and accepting money for them.

The case against Rambau, Willemse and Lubisi took an unexpected turn during a previous court appearance on 9 April this year when Rambau asked the presiding magistrate to withdraw from the case. Rambau claimed that the magistrate had befriended some of the state witnesses and that this could have a negative influence on the outcome of his trial.

During the accused’s appearance last week, the case had to be postponed again when it came to light that Rambau had failed to serve the papers on the presiding magistrate.

The case was postponed until 30 September to afford Rambau an opportunity to finalize his application.