THE murder case against Arnold Terblanche has still not made its way to the High Court, despite the fact that he was arrested in November 2021.
Terblanche and his co-accused, Reinhardt Leach, who was Vicki’s boyfriend at the time of her murder, recently appeared again in the Gqeberha Magistrate’s Court .
According to the state, during this appearance there were two outstanding issues that prevented the case from being transferred to the Gqeberha High Court for a trial date to be set.
It was said in court that the Director of Public Prosecutions still has to sign the finalised indictment and the main delay in terms of a High Court transfer is that deputy judge president Van Zyl must allocate a date.
The case has subsequently been postponed to May 11, 2023.
In the meantime, Terblanche was asked to appear in court again the following day, although the date of remand was initially May 11.
During the next day’s court appearance, the state placed on record that the delay was not that deputy judge president Van Zyl still had to allocate a date, but rather that the indictment must first be signed and handed in before he becomes involved and can allocate a date.
Terblanche and Leach were both arrested in 2021, following their alleged involvement in the murder of Terblanche’s estranged wife, Vicki Terblanche.
Following several failed attempts at securing bail, Terblanche was finally released on bail of R1 million on February 9.
His release came with strict conditions, such as reporting to the Mount Road Police Station every Friday, any time between 09:00 and 16:00. He has also been ordered to appear in court at whichever times and dates he is required to.
He is also banned from communicating with any witness, among others.
The 55-year-old shares a 13-year-old son with Vicki.
Her body was found in a shallow grave in Greenbushes in October 2021 after she was drugged, smothered and/or strangled, allegedly by Leach.
Another accused, Dylan Cullis, was also arrested in connection with Vicki’s murder but turned state witness, and entered into a plea deal.
He admitted to the court that he just looked on as Vicki was being smothered, allegedly by Leach, and said that he was the “lookout” while her body was being buried.
He was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment at the end of March this year.
Cullis was convicted of three counts: murder, for which he received 18 years, robbery with aggravating circumstances, for which he was sentenced to 10 years and defeating or obstructing the course of justice, which landed him five years in prison.
Although it amounts to 33 years, the last two sentences will be running concurrently with the murder charge, thus amounting to a total of 18 years in prison.
