Durban - The culpable homicide charges against a taxi driver implicated in the death of cyclist Burry Stander are to be reinstated.
Earlier this month charges against Njabulo Nyawose were withdrawn. This was after the Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court refused to grant the State another adjournment to wait for a decision from the director of public prosecutions on whether to prosecute.
Nyawose was driving a taxi and Stander was cycling when the two collided in January.
Stander, 25, was killed in the crash. Nyawose was arrested and charged with culpable homicide with an alternative charge of reckless and negligent driving.
The Stander family were outraged by the State’s handling of the matter and demanded an apology.
National Prosecuting Authority spokeswoman Natasha Ramkisson said on Monday that the charges would be reinstated. She said Ray Sansom, then chief prosecutor for southern KwaZulu-Natal, had received a directive from the office of the director of public prosecutions to prosecute Nyawose.
Culpable homicide would remain the main charge, she said, but the State was considering several alternative charges.
Ramkisson said a senior public prosecutor had issued a summons ordering that Nyawose appear in court next month.
“From then, the matter will be in the hands of the court and we expect that it should be set down for trial shortly thereafter,” she said.
Mandie Stander, Burry’s mother, said on Monday that the family appreciated the effort, particularly by Sansom, to get the case back to court.
“Hard as it may be, we will be represented at all future court hearings. Hopefully justice will be served.”
Cycling South Africa president William Newman said it was “good news” that the charges had been reinstated.
Newman wrote to Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula this month asking him to discuss the case with the NPA.
“We need justice to take its course in this case so it sends the right message. People have to understand that any misdemeanours on the road will not go unpunished,” Mbalula said.
The Mercury