Middelburg man finally prosecuted after two dies in collision

Members of AfriForum’s private prosecution unit were in the Regional Court in Middelburg today where Xholane Singwayo is on trial on two counts of culpable homicide. These charges follow after Singwayo allegedly caused the death of Steven Wilson (59) and his son Raymond Wilson (30) on 31 March 2019 in Middelburg. An eyewitness saw Singwayo allegedly speeding through a red traffic light and colliding with the deceased’s vehicle.

The accused initially indicated in court today that he was going to handle his own defence, but later – after Magistrate Deon Minnie pointed out to him that he was facing serious charges – indicated that he wanted to apply for a Legal Aid lawyer. The case has been postponed until 24 November 2022 for the accused to apply for legal aid and so that copies of the docket can be handed over to the defence.

The Private Prosecution Unit became involved in this case after the family of the deceased approached them because it appeared that the case was dragging on for an inappropriately long time. Ruhan Potgieter, the son-in-law and brother-in-law of the deceased, approached the Private Prosecution Unit in November 2021 after receiving no communication from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regarding whether there was any progress in the case.

“The unit has written several letters to the senior prosecutor at the Middelburg court in an attempt to find out why it is taking so long for the NPA to prosecute a simple case of culpable homicide, because it is almost unbelievable that a case with an independent witness has not received the attention it deserves. However, the few times we did get a reply to our correspondence, it was simply to state that the docket was incomplete, and the prosecutor could not yet institute prosecution,” says adv. Phyllis Vorster, prosecutor at AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit.

However, none of this was communicated to the families of the victims. It is for this reason that the family turned to AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit to ensure that the case does not just disappear. “We see in more and more cases that the NPA’s statements that they are ‘victim-centered’ are mere lip service, because these people are not even communicated with about matters in which they have a vested interest. Prosecutors are supposed to be ‘lawyers for the people’, but that is not what the victims of crime are currently experiencing. Nevertheless, we welcome the fact that the accused finally had to appear today and that he will have to defend his actions in court,” concludes Vorster.