Strategy to Delay Timol Murder Trial?
8 April 2021
João ‘Jan’ Anastacio Rodrigues made another court appearance at the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg this morning for his role in the murder of anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol. A visibly upset Judge Monama, who is presiding over the management of the Roderigues’s criminal trial was livid in court today.
The long awaited decision from the SCA in Bloemfontein is pending after appeal from the legal team of Roderigues was heard on 6 November 2019.
“Roderigues remains innocent until proven guilty,” remarked Monama. He however questioned the lengthy detail for the commencement of the criminal trial. The family had been waiting for justice as 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the murder of Timol.
The judge further remarked that what he found completely baffling was the continued legal representation of Roderigues by Mr. Ben Minnaar. Minnaar previously worked for the State Attorney’s office and represented Roderigues at the re-opened inquest in 2017. Roderigues made his first criminal court appearance in 2018. Minnaar had by then resigned and gone into private practice.