London (CNN) -- A British man can be extradited to South Africa to face trial in the alleged killing of his wife while on honeymoon last year, a British court ruled Wednesday.
The ruling has been passed to the Home Secretary, who will make the final decision.
Shrien Dewani, 31, from Bristol, is accused of conspiring with a taxi driver to kill his wife, Anni Dewani, while the couple were visiting South Africa.
The businessman has said his wife was the victim of a carjacking and denies any involvement in the killing.
Their taxi driver alleged that Dewani paid him to arrange the murder in November, and he was sentenced to 18 years after a plea deal with South African authorities.
He said the husband paid him to carry out the hit and make it look like the couple were the victims of a carjacking as they were driving through a township on the edge of Cape Town.
The decision that Dewani can be extradited was made by a judge at Belmarsh Magistrates' Court in London Wednesday.
The Home Office advised CNN that there was no time frame within which the home secretary had to approve or deny the extradition.
Eric Ntabazalila, a spokesman for South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority, told CNN: "We welcome the judgment but we would like to stress that this is only the beginning of the process.
"The home secretary still needs to make the final decision, and it is possible that Shrien Dewani will appeal."
Extradition proceedings were halted in May as the court awaited a psychiatric report on Dewani, who has said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and has fought extradition.
One of the defense's arguments against extradition was that Dewani would not get a fair trial and would not be safe in crowded South African jails.
Clare Montgomery, Dewani's counsel, quoted figures from a South African report suggesting that almost half of prisoners believe sexual abuse is rampant in the jails.
CNN's Carol Jordan and Nkepile Mabuse contributed to this report.
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