Durban - The driver of the bakkie that plunged into a KwaZulu-Natal Midlands sludge dam in May, killing five schoolchildren and injuring 24, had known about the defective brakes for three weeks before the accident.
Phelelani James Mchunu, 25, was sentenced to five years in jail by the Greytown Regional Court on Tuesday.
He pleaded guilty to five counts of culpable homicide.
On May 12, Mchunu lost control of the bakkie, carrying 29 schoolchildren, on the D532 road in the Rietvlei area in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.
The vehicle plunged into a farm sludge dam and 24 children managed get out alive.
National Prosecuting Authority spokeswoman, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, said that Mchunu received a jail sentence rather than correctional supervision after the regional court prosecutor, Premie Naidoo, had argued that the accused knew a full three weeks before the incident that the brakes on the vehicle were not functioning.
“She also mentioned that Mr Mchunu had, in fact, disconnected the brake line and placed a bolt in it to prevent the brake fluid from leaking.”
In his guilty plea on August 27, Mchunu acknowledged he had been negligent and failed to check the bakkie was in good working order.
Naidoo argued that Mchunu acted negligently as he had reconciled himself to the fact that there were no brakes in the bakkie, in which he was transporting schoolchildren.
Mchunu’s uncle, and owner of the bakkie, is angry at the prison sentence, maintaining his nephew’s innocence.
Pensioner Joseph Shelembe, 63, whose son Phumlani, 17, was among those who died, said he felt tears streaming down his face after the sentencing of Mchunu.
“I cried because he was innocent. He did not intend to cause an accident.
“The court proved that the (bakkie’s) brakes had been faulty. He did not run away after the accident, but rescued those who survived. If he aimed to kill he could have disappeared after the accident.”
Shelembe admitted that he had previously noticed dark smoke coming out from the rear of the vehicle but waited to collect money to fix the problem. He said he had been ridiculed after the accident by parents who accused him of killing their children.
“I am a kind parent. I could not have taken their children to kill them. I bought the bakkie for family use and to offer transport for my five children to school.
“But parents have requested me to transport theirs as well. I could have said no, but I did it out of kindness,” he said.
Shelembe told the Daily News that he was now trying to avoid contact with the parents to prevent conflict.
“Rumours spread like wildfire that I bought a s’korokoro (unroadworthy) bakkie. But they came to me for my services. Seeing (Mchunu) handcuffed brought tears in my eyes,” he said. “I cannot find peace at night.”
Shelembe said he had hoped that he would have been called to testify in court on behalf of Mchunu and plead for leniency.
He also said he was struggling to raise the R4 000 he needed to have his bakkie released after it was impounded.
Daily News and Sapa