Now police and Johannesburg’s Metro Police are at odds to explain why the validity of the female driver’s claims were not tested before she was allowed to leave the scene of the accident in Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg.

Fourth-year nursing student Adonis Ndudule died when the woman’s car hit his stationary Beetle at the side of the road.

While the metro police initially said the driver’s blood alcohol level could not be tested because she had diplomatic immunity, even though she may have been reckless, it now turns out they also failed to pick up that she was driving a car with fake number plates.

Metro police spokesman Inspector Edna Mamonyane initially said the driver was attached to the Malaysian embassy, but later admitted that this was never verified. They also failed to take down the details of a man who collected her, despite him “flashing” a diplomatic card at them.

On Friday, Malaysian high commissioner Kennedy Jawan said neither the car nor the woman was attached to the embassy. He said the police should have verified the information before putting it out.

The police have now launched an investigation into the accident and the circumstances around the female driver’s release.

Honeydew police spokesman Inspector Karen Jacobs said metro police would have to explain why the driver, who did not have a diplomatic card, was not asked for any other form of identification, because the Department of Foreign Affairs had a 24-hour line through which this could have been checked.

Mamonyane said the woman could still be prosecuted for drunk driving and that both her and the mystery man could be charged for defeating the ends of justice.

Speaking at Ndudule’s funeral in Soweto yesterday, his uncle, Mshiyeni Sogoni, said the family hoped this case would be treated as a priority by the police.