A former Durban police officer accused of murdering his wife and dumping her body has been granted bail by the North Gauteng High Court after initially having his bail denied by the Pretoria Magistrate's Court earlier this year.

Prem Basdeo was granted bail of R50 000 by the High Court on Wednesday morning with conditions including handing over his passport and reporting to a local police station three times a week, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane confirmed. 

Mjonondwane noted the High Court's decision, saying that bail did not mean the end of the case.

"The accused still has a case to answer," Mjonondwane said.

Basdeo was originally refused bail in July when the magistrate's court said that no exceptional circumstances to warrant his release were proven.

News24 previously reported that Basdeo was charged with the murder of his wife, Dawn, and defeating the ends of justice and perjury because it is alleged that he was not truthful in his initial statement when he reported his wife as missing in June.

Dawn was last seen at her home in Brooklyn, Pretoria, on June 8.

It is alleged she left her home on that Friday morning to go to a nearby hospital, but never arrived at the hospital, police spokesperson Captain Colette Weilbach previously told News24.

Weilbach said detectives from Brooklyn police station worked around the clock, making a breakthrough in the case after a silver-grey 2007 Mercedes ML63 was found abandoned in Soweto. It was allegedly used by Dawn during the time of her disappearance.

Previous murder charge

During his previous court appearance Basdeo's lawyer, advocate Piet Pistorius, told the court that it was common cause that Basdeo and his son had been tried for the murder of his first wife in Durban 14 years ago.

Basdeo's first wife, Neetha Basdeo, was murdered in 2000.

It was found that there was no evidence to link Basdeo and his son to the murder, who allege that they were not at home in Phoenix, KwaZulu-Natal, when Neetha was shot to death.

"The relevance [of the previous murder case] has no bearing on this matter whatsoever. He appears as an innocent person in this case after being acquitted in another case," said Pistorius.

Dawn still missing

Pistorius also told the court that the charges were premature as Dawn's body is yet to be found, adding that it hasn't been ascertained whether she is dead or missing.   

"There is no body, so we don't know whether the wife of my client is dead or alive," said Pistorius.

The State, however, wanted more time to investigate the modus operandi in the previous murder case and to compile witness statements before the initial bail application could proceed.

Basdeo is expected back in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on November 23.