Driver must race to find new defenders in Simba Mhere crash case

29 October, 2015 16:05

The late Simba Mhere.
Image by: SUPPLIED

The Randburg Magistrate’s Court has given the driver involved in a collision in which television presenter Simba Mhere died a day to find another attorney after both his legal representatives withdrew from the case on Thursday.

Mhere and his friend‚ Kady-Shay O’Bryan‚ who was a passenger in the car Mhere was driving‚ died on the scene of the accident on William Nicol Drive in Fourways‚ Johannesburg‚ on January 31.

Mhere would have turned 27 on Thursday.

Naidoo has not pleaded to the charges yet.

His trial was due to start on Thursday‚ but prosecutor Yusuf Baba told the court that he had received a request for further particulars from Naidoo’s attorney‚ Satch Govender‚ on Monday. He said the parties had agreed for the matter to be postponed following the defence’s request.

Advocate Francois Roets‚ appearing for Naidoo‚ said the postponement was required for him to get a proper brief and to get input from an expert they wish to call as a witness. He said they had not been able to consult with the expert because his mother had died.

Magistrate Ndivhuwo Setusha‚ however‚ refused‚ saying that the case had already been postponed several times.

She said the expert would only be required to testify at a later stage.

“This court cleared its roll [to allow the case to proceed]. The state is ready. The witnesses are here. The application is not granted‚” Setusha said.

Roets then asked to be excused from the case because he was only briefed to ask for a postponement and had not been briefed on the merits of the case yet.

Shortly after that‚ Govender also withdrew as attorney of record‚ citing a “breach of trust” as the reason he no longer wanted to represent Naidoo.

Setusha warned Naidoo to find a lawyer by Friday so that the matter could be set down for trial as soon as possible.

She told Naidoo that though he had the right to a lawyer‚ the court would not allow him to abuse that right.

Outside court‚ Mhere’s friend and Top Billing presenter Jonathan Boynton-Lee said: “I am just exhausted from all these postponements.”

Ryan Harrison‚ an oversight lawyer appointed by Mhere and O’Bryan’s families‚ said both families were disappointed that the matter did not proceed but satisfied that the defence was taken to task to ensure that it continues the next day
.