A farmer and his son who are accused of beating a neighbour to death‚ and driving over his body‚ are now finding out just one of the many potential consequences to their arrest: they need money to pay for lawyers.

North West farmer Schalk Myburgh and his son‚ also named Schalk‚ allegedly murdered a black farmer‚ Muraga Mavula‚ 63‚ who was their neighbour at Kameeldrift outside Brits in December 2015. They are accused of assaulting Mavula next to the road‚ and then driving their bakkie over him in full view of his 12-year-old son and two other children.

The murder trial was due to start today at the North Gauteng High Court in Tshwane.

 But instead‚ the pair brought an application for postponement. The court heard they have not yet paid their defence team.

Their counsel‚ advocate Adele Janse van Vuuren‚ told the court her clients needed two more months to raise the requisite funds.

She told Judge Natvarial Ranchod that Myburgh and his son were keen to use Legal Aid lawyers.

 It was also their constitutional right to use lawyers of their choice‚ said Janse van Vuuren.

 State prosecutor Jennifer Cronjé opposed the postponement application. She argued Myburgh and his son have known since last year August that they do not have money for private lawyers.

 They are now buying time‚ Cronjé said. “They must say how they are going to raise the funds.”

Judge Ranchod criticised the pair for failing to have their house in order. “I think the accused have not taken serious steps to ensure that they are ready for the trial to begin‚” he said.

But in the end‚ he granted the postponement‚ to September.

The pair are out on bail of R500 each‚ which was granted to them by the Brits Magistrate’s Court‚ in the North West‚ in August last year.