Mr Praveen Singh, the accused was charged with three offences. He was charged with two statutory offences and one common law offence. All these offences took place on the night of August 20, 2000.
He pleaded guilty with regards to the charges of reckless or negligent driving in contravention of s 63 (1) of the National Road traffic Act . Mr Singh was driving on a public road and whilst doing this he unlawfully and negligently passed a vehicle in front of him. There was oncoming traffic and a collision had occurred and Mr Singh's passenger was seriously injured. .
The second charge was with regards to the contravention of s 65 (2)(a) Of the National Road Traffic Act . He had unlawfully and consciously drove while under the influence of alcohol. Singh had driven with a blood alcohol level of 0,06 grams of alcohol per 100 ml of blood. He pleaded guilty.
Lastly, Praveen Singh was charged with defeating and obstructing the course of justice when he intentionally and unlawfully resisted giving a sample of blood. Mr Singh had contravened s 65 (9) of Act 93 . The accused has pleaded not guilty to this charge. .
On the night of August 20, 2000, Praveen Singh and Ms Refilwe Tong had attended a party which was held in the district of Durban. During this party, they had each consumed a quantity of alcohol. On the way home there was a minibus taxi which was travelling in front of Praveen's vehicle. This vehicle was travelling at a speed which was well below the speed limit and this had prompted Mr Singh to pass the taxi. In doing so, he had collided with oncoming traffic causing damage to both the vehicles and to Ms Refilwe Tong. .
Mr Thinus Fourie, a traffic officer who was on duty on the night of question had arrived at the accident scene shortly thereafter. Mr Sepumle, the person whose car Praveen had caused damage to had said that Praveen was drunk and therefore Mr Fourie had requested that a medic take blood samples to determine the blood alcohol concentration.