Motorist Omesh Ramnarain, who is accused of culpable homicide in connection with a crash in which two cyclists were killed, will stand trial early next year.
Ramnarain – who is facing two counts of culpable homicide in connection with the deaths of Richard da Silva, 46, and Jared Dwyer, 36, on the M4 last year – was expected to plead guilty last month.
This after lengthy negotiations between his then legal team and the State, which culminated in a plea agreement.
But at the last minute, Ramnarain changed his lawyers and they requested an adjournment to establish how they were going to proceed.
When he appeared in the Durban Regional Court on Friday, Ramnarain’s new advocate, Murray Pitman, said his client wanted to proceed to trial.
The trial was set down for a week in mid-January.
Public prosecutor Herman Mouton said the State would call six witnesses.
The defence is expected to call three.
Dwyer and Da Silva were killed after Ramnarain, who was allegedly drunk and travelling at high speed in his black VW Golf GTi, slammed into them on the M4, past the Swapo Road (Broadway) turn-off, just after 5am one Sunday morning early last year.
An uMhlanga plumber who lives with his parents in Phoenix, Ramnarain has wept in the dock on several occasions and his family has publicly apologised to the Dwyer and Da Silva families.