A 35-year-old man who pleaded guilty to a deadly crash in 2022 that claimed the lives of six has been jailed to an effective 10 years behind bars.
Celumusa Ngwenya was found guilty in The Ladysmith Regional Court on Thursday.
The crash claimed the lives of Transport Minister, Sindisiwe Chikunga six relatives, including her eldest son.
According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson in KwaZulu-Natal Natasha Kara, the accused pleaded guilty to six counts of culpable homicide.
“His plea relates to the motor vehicle accident that occurred on July 17, 2022, on the N11 highway, outside Ladysmith which claimed the lives of six people who were family members of Transport Minister, Sindisiwe Chikunga.
“The deceased were aged between 4 and 40.
“Following the accident and prosecutor-guided investigations, Ngwenya appeared in court in January 2024, on a summons.”
Kara said during court proceedings and aggravation of sentence, Prosecutor Sathsha Budhram led the evidence of Advocate Makhosini Msibi from the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) who told the court that South Africa has approximately 12 541 vehicle-related accidents, costing the economy about R 198 billion.
“According to a vehicle tracker report handed into court, Ngwenya was driving at 158km/h in an 80km zone, and he overtook on a double barrier line, around a bend.
“Since all the six counts were taken as one for sentencing, Ngwenya will serve an effective 10-year imprisonment.
“Further, in terms of Section 34 of the National Road Traffic Act, his driver’s licence was cancelled.”
The NPA welcomes the successful finalisation of this matter.
“We hope that the sentence sends out the necessary deterrent message to like-minded individuals.”
Chikunga welcomed the sentence and said justice had been served.
”However, it is not going to bring back my children. It is six children who had a bright future ahead of them,” she said.
IOL News