Durban - Field’s Hill death crash driver Sanele May is expected to plead guilty in the Durban High Court on Friday in terms of a plea bargain he has thrashed out with the State.
He is expected to plead guilty to 24 counts of culpable homicide and could serve up to 10 years in jail.
He is also expected to offer to give evidence against his boss, Gregory Govender, and the company he worked for, Sagekal Logistics, should the State decide to press charges against them.
While the plea is being done in terms of legislation in which the sentence is predetermined, a judge can refuse to agree to it if he or she believes it to be unjust.
However, this is unlikely, given that May has apparently agreed to a substantial term of imprisonment and that victims of the horror crash have been consulted.
May, a Swazi national, was driving back from his first assignment with the company – a round trip to Joburg – on September 5 last year when his brakes failed and he careered out of control down Field’s Hill.
He took the off-ramp from the M13 to Old Main Road in Pinetown and, going through a red robot, crashed into cars and taxis which were passing through the intersection, killing 24 people.
The State obtained reports which indicated that the vehicle was unroadworthy and also reports from an on-board tracking system which apparently showed that May drove erratically, sometimes at high speed, and recklessly.
Apart from the culpable homicide charges, he is also expected to plead guilty to being in possession of a false traffic registration number certificate and a false public driver’s permit, and two counts of fraud relating to using them to get the job with Sagekal.
Further charges are for being in the country illegally, operating a vehicle without a professional driver’s permit, and failing to stop at a stop sign.
The Mercury