Truck owner has ‘nothing to hide’
NOW that his former employee, Sanele May, has been imprisoned, Gregory Govender is expecting the state’s focus to shift to him, but he claims he has “nothing to hide”.
Govender says his company cannot be held accountable for “operating an unworthy vehicle” that caused the death of 24 people on Field’s Hill in September 2013.
May, from Swaziland, lost control of the truck belonging to Govender’s company, Sagekal and ploughed through traffic. He initially faced 24 counts of murder but those were changed to culpable homicide. The other charges included fraud, entering South Africa illegally, and being in possession of a fake driver’s licence.
He pleaded guilty to all the charges.
In the Durban High Court on Friday Judge Kate Pillay sentenced May to an effective eight years and 10 months in prison. He could be paroled after serving six of them.
Families of the dead and survivors of the Field’s Hill carnage were generally “at peace” with Pillay’s sentencing, but want Govender to face the full might of the law.
“The owner must take blame for the accident. Sanele (May) must not be made the scapegoat,” said one survivor, Ayanda Bojana.
Speaking through his attorney, Theasan Pillay, Govender said: “There have been claims that my company must be held accountable for operating an unroadworthy vehicle. I deny this.
“My attorney has always warned me that the state will first finalise its case with May and then proceed against the business or me personally. We have been preparing for this. We have nothing to hide.”
Govender “felt sorry” that May had been incarcerated and accepted May presented false licences and permits to secure employment.
“But that act of deception caused us to put an unqualified man behind the wheel of a specialised vehicle and his inexperience caused the accident,” Govender said.
Nthombi Duma, who also survived the accident, was also in court on Friday. Speaking after sentencing she said Govender had not shown an iota of remorse.
“He (Govender) never said sorry. We have never had interaction with him.”
Govender disagreed. “There is public perception that we have been unscathed by this tragedy. That is absolutely untrue,” he said. “I operate a family-run business. Our vehicle was the means by which so many people died. How can we not be devastated by all of this?”
He said the public did not know how badly the accident had affected his life.
“In 14 months, our fleet of 22 trucks has been reduced by three quarters. I have had to sell our home and personal vehicles to survive. The business may be liquidated soon. All of this happened because we trusted May when he presented what appeared to be authentic documents. ”