The taxi driver accused of being behind the wheel of a fatal crash that claimed the lives of two little sisters in Mitchells Plain has been arrested.
The 22-year-old suspect was arrested on Saturday morning at his home in Kraaifontein.
The arrest comes eight days after Nurah, two, and Nishaat Thomas, six, died after a fully loaded taxi slammed into their family car along Merrydale Avenue and Wespoort Drive on March 3.
It is alleged that the accused, who will appear in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, jumped a red robot.
After the story appeared in the Daily Voice, private forensic investigator Desmond Finnis reached out and offered his services to the family pro bono.
Finnis said the story caught his attention because of the similarities in his own case.
He tragically lost three members of his family in October 2021 and just like the Thomas family, the driver wasn’t arrested until Finnis ran a parallel investigation into the crash.
Earlier this year, Achmat Suleiman, the driver of the bakkie which caused the death of Kurt-Lee Carolus, Yolande Gedult and klein Tara-Lee Carolus, was found guilty of negligent and reckless driving and is currently serving a three-year prison sentence.
Finnis told the Voice: “I felt I needed to take on the Thomas case after reading that the suspect was not arrested.”
Lauren Carolus, the mother of Tara-Lee and widow of Kurt-Lee, said she believed if it wasn’t for Finnis’ help, the case wouldn’t have been solved.
Finnis informed the Voice of the suspect’s arrest, adding that the young man allegedly did not have a driver’s licence.
“The State will also push to turn the culpable homicide charges into murder charges,” he said.
Parents Raihaana and Abduragmaan Thomas on Tuesday said they were happy with the news of the arrest and that they hoped for justice to be served.
Police spokesperson captain FC van Wyk confirmed the suspect was busted in Kraaifontein and charged with two counts of culpable homicide.