Miguel Louw's murder case back in court for final arguments

For the next two days, Mohammed Vahed Ebrahim will stand in the dock while his lawyers and those of the state go head-to-head as the 2018 murder case of Durban schoolboy Miguel Louw finally draws to a close.

Closing arguments are set to begin on Thursday in the Durban high court, where Ebrahim stands accused of kidnapping and murdering Miguel.

The matter was last in court on January 27, where judge Jacqueline Henriques dismissed an application by Ebrahim's lawyer Jay Naidoo to have the charges against his client dismissed.

During that application, Naidoo argued that the state had built its case on circumstantial evidence and had no tangible evidence pointing to Ebrahim as the killer.

Ebrahim was arrested after the decomposing body of the nine-year-old was discovered in a ravine less than 100m from Ebrahim’s family home in Phoenix, north of Durban, in September 2018.

According to evidence, Ebrahim entered Miguel’s life as an acquaintance of the boy's mother, Raylene. The two worked at the same butchery. The court heard that he was often at their house, sometimes spending the night.

The court also heard that Ebrahim was fond of the Louw children and would on occasion take the family out.

Video footage from a motor spares shop near Miguel’s home showed him walking with Ebrahim on the day he went missing in July 2018.

Ebrahim has pleaded not guilty to the charges of murder and kidnapping.

The matter is expected to get under way on Thursday morning.