A Palm Ridge mother’s bid to appeal her murder conviction and sentence has been postponed to February next year.

The woman dubbed as the “Palm Ridge Mother” murdered her partner during a domestic violence incident in 2018.

She was sentenced to ten-years in the lower court in November 2022.

The appeal that was set to be heard in the Palm Ridge Magistrates’ Court today could not proceed due to electricity and water challenges in the court.

[ICYMI] The Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court has delayed a gender-based violence victim’s appeal to overturn her murder conviction and 10-year sentence due to issues with electricity and water. The case, filed by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, will serve as a precursor to a… pic.twitter.com/lTSj1VKbBH

— SABC News (@SABCNews) December 3, 2024

This case, launched by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, will serve as a precursor to a Constitutional challenge which seeks to change the manner in which the court determines gender-based violence matters.

Centre Applied Legal Studies, Candidate Legal Practitioner, Anda Dungulu says the organisation is appealing the matter because the court did not take the woman’s history of abuse into account when passing its judgment.

“We are appealing the conviction and the sentencing because the court did not engage with the fact that she was a victim of gender-based violence, and basically convicted and sentenced her without any of those considerations, did not even consider the report from a psychologist or take into consideration battered woman syndrome. So, we are appealing on those grounds that she was not given.”

‘Palm Ridge Mother’ | Blackouts, water cuts delay GBV survivor’s case