Sentence satisfies victim’s brother
COLLINS Chabane’s younger brother Percy says he accepts the six-year jail sentence given to the man involved in the crash that killed his older brother and that he puts his trust in God.
Speaking yesterday as a younger brother and not on behalf of the entire family, Percy said the sentence was something he could live with and that it was reasonable.
He said it was important that people not look at the sentence in the context of who his brother was, but rather at the offence that was committed and the court’s final decision.
“As a person who understands law better, I will live with the sentence however painful the loss of my brother is. People should shake away who he (Collins) was in society, look at the case and accept the law,” said Percy, who is a qualified lawyer.
“For me, this sentence is acceptable and all society should accept it. We need to be satisfied. We need to accept it and trust in God. The law took its course.
“The courts looked at the evidence – who am I to dispute what the presiding officer pronounced?” he asked.
Mankweng magistrate Jane Ngobeni sentenced truck driver Amukelani Rikhotso on Friday to six years for causing the accident that killed Chabane and his two bodyguards, sergeants Lesiba Sekele and Lawrence Lentsoane, in March last year.
The three died after they rammed into Rikhotso’s truck when he made a U-turn on the N1 between Mokopane and Polokwane in Limpopo.
Rikhotso pleaded guilty to charges of culpable homicide, driving under the influence, and failure to obey road traffic signs.
He also told the court that he had drunk beer, but explained that his truck had broken down and that he did not think he would be driving again after he had drunk.
Percy likened Rikhotso’s sentence to Oscar Pistorius’s. For example, he said, the court proved beyond reasonable doubt that Oscar “killed Reeva in cold blood”, but he was given six years.
“What more want?” he asked.
“The State and the defence presented their case, and Rikhotso was even granted leave to appeal, which means the magistrate believes there could be a possibility of success in his appeal.
“I have closed that chapter and moved on. I had not been able to move on before because the case was hanging over my head.”
Percy added that drunken driving was a big problem that needed to be addressed.
Rikhotso’s driver’s licence was suspended for six months and he was declared unfit to possess a firearm. could we