R25 000 fine for death truck owner

FIELDS HILL CRASH: PLEA AND SENTENCE AGREEMENT

Illegally employed Swazi driver already serving 10-year prison term.

The owner of a truck that careened out of control on Fields Hill in Pinetown four years ago and killed 24 people has pleaded guilty to four charges and entered into a plea agreement with the state to pay a fine.

Gregory Govender has the option to pay a total fine of R25 000 as part of an agreement reached with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) yesterday.

In September 2013, the articulated truck owned by Govender went out control while descending the steep Fields Hill with an inexperienced, illegal Swazi immigrant at the wheel.

Sanele May, the driver, took the off-ramp towards Richmond Road, Pinetown. As he neared the traffic intersection, the light turned red and the other traffic started to flow. May failed to stop and smashed into two cars and four minibus taxis, killing 22 people.

Another two people later died in hospital.

May is serving a 10-year sentence at the Umzinto Correctional Services facility. He pleaded guilty to 31 charges in November 2014, including possession of a fake driver’s licence, fraud, culpable homicide, entering South Africa illegally and failing to comply with a road traffic sign.

Govender, whose freight company, Sagekal Logistics, has since gone into liquidation, had maintained his innocence since 2013.

The NPA yesterday announced Govender had entered into a plea and sentence agreement.

The NPA said Govender pleaded guilty to contravention of the National Road Traffic Act regarding the roadworthiness of the truck and the trailer that were involved in the crash, and contravention of the Act in terms of the duties of an operator, where the operator of a motor vehicle is expected to conduct his operations with due care to public safety.

The fourth charge was a contravention of the Immigration Act, and related to the employment of the driver of the truck, who was illegally in the country.

“For counts 1 and 2 (taken as one for the purpose of sentencing), the accused was sentenced to a fine of R10 000 or 12 months’ imprisonment. He was further sentenced to a fine of R10 000 or 12 months’ imprisonment for count 3 and a fine of R5 000 or six months’ imprisonment for count 4,” said the NPA’s KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson, Natasha Kara. – ANA