The man who caused the death of Top Billing presenter Simba Mhere has been released on warning pending the release of a probation officer’s report.
Preshalin Naidoo was on Wednesday found guilty of causing the death of Mhere and his friend Kady-Shay O’Bryan.
Mhere and O’Bryan‚ who was a passenger in the car Mhere was driving‚ died at the scene of the accident on William Nicol Drive in Fourways‚ Johannesburg‚ on January 31‚ 2015.
Magistrate David Mahango found that Naidoo’s version that the car he was driving on the morning of the accident had a mechanical defect was fabricated and improbable.
Mahango also rejected the evidence of the defence’s accident reconstruction expert‚ Stanley Bezuidenhout‚ that speed could not have caused the accident and that it was as a result of a right front suspension of Naidoo’s car.
Naidoo’s case was postponed to March 9 for the probation officer’s report.
Mhere’s family did not want to comment on the judgment.
His mother‚ Angela‚ could only say: “This has been a difficult day for us.”
Mhere rose to fame when he won a presenter search competition in 2010‚ landing him a job on the lifestyle television programme.