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Polokwane - Murder-accused Limpopo businessman Rameez Patel suffered a major blow on Wednesday after the Polokwane Magistrate's Court denied his application to be released on bail.
Magistrate Janine Ungerer told Patel that it was not in the interests of justice to release him on bail so that he could manage his business and take care of his children.
Delivering her judgment on Tuesday, Ungerer was convinced that the State had proved its case that Patel was a flight risk.
"The public confidence will be shaken if the applicant is released on bail. The application for bail has been denied," ruled Ungerer.
READ: Murder accused Rameez Patel awaits bail decision
Lawyer Tumi Mokoena had argued that his client's business was suffering as a result of his incarceration.
Patel is charged with killing his mother Mahejeen Patel, who was shot dead in September last year.
During the bail hearing, allegations emerged that Mahejeen had warned her relatives that her son would kill her.
She was killed in her house in the suburb of Nirvana, less than five minutes after Patel left the house.
The court also heard that, at the time that she was killed, she was on the verge of transferring her wealth into a trust account.
The 33-year-old businessman is currently also on trial in the Limpopo High Court for allegedly killing his wife Fatima Patel. She was shot and killed at the couple's apartment in Nirvana.
He was out on R250 000 bail when he was arrested for his mother’s death.
Firoz Patel, his father and the founder of the empire, was also shot and killed in 2016.
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