The parents of the two Mitchells Plain sisters who lost their lives in a tragic car accident, could breathe a sigh of relief during their daughters court case on Wednesday.
Nishaat, six, and her two-year-old sister Nurah Thomas died after the driver of a Toyota Quantum slammed into the Opel Corsa they were travelling in with their dad in March.
The 22-year-old driver, Likhona Mgidi, was arrested a few days later and has been charged with two counts of culpable homicide and negligent driving.
At his last appearance at the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court, it looked as if the matter was going to hit a dead end after the magistrate skelled uit the investigating officer, accusing him of slapgat werk.
She warned that she might strike the case off the roll if the chain statements, post-mortem report, declaration of death, medical reports and two statements were still outstanding.
She gave the State six weeks to get its ducks in a row.
However, on Wednesday the magistrate made a U-turn after the State indicated that it had miraculously found most of the documents, blocking the defenc’e's request to strike the case of the roll.
The girls’ parents, Raihaana and Abduragmaan, said they were happy to learn that there is urgency in their case again and it will remain on the roll.
Abduragmaan commented on the fact that the prosecutor pointed out that the documents had been “found”.
“This shows that the investigating officer did his work from the beginning,” he said.
“Him saying that he found it and not that it was brought, I can only assume they had it all along.”
Raihaana thanked the detective, Jonathan Jacobs, from Mitchells Plain SAPS for all his hard work.
“Thank you for keeping us updated, we know you did a lot to get us here,” she said.
Mgidi has asked the media to convey his apologies to the family, but Raihaana said he hasn’t personally apologised, even while they sat metres away from him in court.
The matter has been postponed to September 14.
tracy-lynn.ruiters@inl.co.za