Murder accused Arnold Terblanche had to appear in two separate courtrooms on Friday, initially causing a bit of confusion at the Magistrates Court in Gqeberha.
Terblanche who is accused of being the mastermind behind the murder of his estranged wife Vicki has been in custody for over a year and is currently busy with the third attempt at bail, based on new facts.
Earlier this month the High Court gave Terblanche a lifeline by ruling that he did have new facts and therefore may proceed with his bail, however, on the very same day he was arrested at St Albans prison where he was slapped with seven additional charges.
It is for these new charges he had to appear alone in Court where the matter was postponed until December.
Shortly after that appearance, his co-accused, Reinhardt Leach and Dylan Cullis were ushered back into Court 27 where the old matter continued.
During proceedings, State Prosecutor Marius Stander indicated to the court that he would like to join the two cases together but that he did not have all the necessary documents yet to do so.
Earlier this week the State brought an application for Magistrate Kriban Pillay to recuse himself.
In his affidavit, Terblanche admitted that he paid a man, whose name is known to Algoa FM News, a deposit of R50 000 to do an interview with Mr Pillay in order to get a detailed background of his case, from his perspective.
The Magistrate, however, was never approached or paid.
In his judgment on Friday morning, magistrate Pillay said reasons furnished by the state do not warrant his recusal.
The bail application has been postponed to the 2nd of November when arguments will be heard.
The body of Vicki Terblanche was discovered in a shallow grave in October last year after she was drugged with Percocet and then suffocated.
