Zimbabwean national, Blessing Bveni who was accused of murdering two people and assaulting and robbing others in the Table Mountain National Park in early 2018 requested for the case against him to be postponed.
However, the Judge rejected his application.
His case continued on Monday in the Cape Town high court.
It was discovered that Bveni's sister who would want to defend him was living in Zimbabwe, pregnant, had no passport and had no money to get to SA.
Bveni's defence lawyer Henk Carstens requested that the case be postponed so as to get a way to bring Bveni's sister to Cape Town.
Judge Judith Cloete ruled against the plea for postponement.
“This court is very aware of the accused's right to a fair trial. The court system for criminal trials are not only in the interest of the families and victims but also the accused."
"He has been in custody since 2018. But it will not be in the interest of justice to permit a further postponement to some unknown time and unknown basis in the future,” said Cloete.
“In fact, it will be sending out a completely wrong message and may result in the perception of the public that the courts don't take the administration of justice seriously.
"The application is refused.”
Carstens said the defence had no further witnesses and he rested its case.
State prosecutor Christopher Burke began his final arguments against Bveni.
