Mohammed Ebrahim‚ accused of the abduction and murder of 9-year-old Sydenham schoolboy Miguel Louw‚ will again face his accusers in open court on Wednesday.

The 43-year-old has been in hiding after his release on bail‚ and is expected to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court.

Ebrahim was arrested in the wake of Louw’s disappearance in July and initially faced charges of kidnapping and theft. But this was before the boy’s decomposed body was found just a stone’s throw from the man’s family home in Phoenix.

The state is expected to add a count of murder to the charge sheet in a much-anticipated court appearance‚ with protests expected outside the courthouse.

Louw was last seen in the company of Ebrahim‚ a butcher and colleague of his mother.

During an application for bail and before Louw’s body was found‚ Magistrate Mahomed Motala said that in considering the evidence before him‚ a conviction was near impossible.

“I might as well give you a prediction now. The finding is going to be not guilty given what is placed before me‚” he had said.

“The high-water mark of the state’s case is that Ebrahim disappeared for three days [after Louw’s disappearance] and that borders on outlining a risk that he may evade trial.

“A person’s inclination to not stand trial is directly proportionate to the strength of the state’s case. If all you have is what you’ve told me you have‚ what purpose does keeping him in custody serve?” the magistrate asked.