Field’s Hill truck firm auctions assets

Traffic officers inspecting some of the trucks owned by Sagekal Logistics,at the front is the truck that caused an accident on Fields Hill and killed 23 people. Photo: Zanele Zulu

Traffic officers inspecting some of the trucks owned by Sagekal Logistics,at the front is the truck that caused an accident on Fields Hill and killed 23 people. Photo: Zanele Zulu

Published Aug 31, 2015

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Durban - Sagekal Logistics, the company that owned the truck that killed 24 people on Field’s Hill two years ago this week – September 5 – will have R1 million worth of assets auctioned on Wednesday to pay debt owed to a South Coast company.

Gregory Govender’s goods will be auctioned to recover a debt his company, Sagekal Logistics, owes to a supplier Wozani Berg Gasoline (Pty) Ltd.

Govender had reportedly said clients were no longer doing business with him after his truck, driven by Sanele May, serving eight years for culpable homicide, ploughed into four fully loaded taxis.

Wozani’s legal representative, Janine Smith of Shepstone & Wylie attorneys, said their client obtained a judgment from the Verulam Magistrate’s Court to attach items belonging to Sagekal Logistics.

“In March 2015 the judgment was passed to recoup R866 911.91 plus interest, plus costs of the application, from Sagekal. The defendant had failed to make payment as per the agreement between the parties and this had to be brought before the court. The auction is set to take place on September 4, 2015,” Smith said.

Among the goods to be auctioned are printers, a pressure machine, a compressor, truck engines, gearbox and computers.

According to the court papers filed by the lawyers (for Wozani) in November 2013, Sagekal signed an acknowledgement of debt in favour of the plaintiff to pay R866 911.91 in respect of the defendant’s debt.

The debt was to be paid in instalments of R40 000 a month, with the first instalment to have been paid on November 1, 2013 and thereafter on the first of each of the subsequent months until the debt was fully paid.

The Daily News has copies of the documents.

The documents also say that Sagekal was in breach of the agreement as no payment had been made.

The debt must now be paid in full, with 9% interest from February 5, 2014 to the date of payment, plus costs.

After investigations were done on the truck, it was revealed that there were a number faults with the braking system and supporters of Sanele May called for Govender to be charged alongside the Swazi driver.

On Friday, the leader of the group who supported May after the accident, Helen “Peach” Piche, said it was sad that to date, Govender was still a free man despite the evidence that his truck was faulty.

“I have no words to describe this. During judgment, the judge had said there was a need to bring the truck owner to book. No satisfactory answers are forthcoming on the failure to hold him (Govender) accountable,” Piche said.

NPA spokeswoman, Natasha Ramkisoon-Keera, said: “The matter is still under investigation and a decision is still to be taken by the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.”

When the Daily News contacted for comment, Govender’s lawyer, Theasen Pillay, said he needed to consult with his client first and would call back, but he had not by the time of publication.

Daily News

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