Johannesburg - Collins Chabane's younger brother says he accepts the six-year jail sentence given to the man involved in the crash that killed his brother.
Percy Chabane said the sentence was reasonable, adding that it was important that people not look at the sentence in the context of who his brother was but rather at the offence and the court's decision.
Collins was Public Service and Administration Minister at the time of his death.
"I will live with the sentence, however painful the loss of my brother is. People should shake away who he (Collins) was in the society, look at the case and accept the law," said Percy, who is a qualified lawyer.
"This sentence is acceptable and all of society should accept it. We need to be satisfied. We need to accept it and trust in our God. The law took its course. The courts looked at the evidence."
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 in the Mankweng Magistrate's Court to charges of culpable homicide,driving under the influence and failure to obey road traffic signs.
He said he had drank beer. He didn't think he would be driving as his truck had broken down.
Percy likened the sentence that Rikhotso got to Oscar Pistorius's one. For example, he said, the court proved beyond reasonable doubt that Oscar killed Reeva in cold blood but he was given six years.
He said he had used the example of Pistorius's case to comfort his sister when she found it difficult to accept Rikhotso's sentence.
"The State and the defence presented their cases and Rikhotso was 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 said drunk drivers were killing many people on our roads and the problem needed to be addressed.
Rikhotso's driving licence was suspended for six months and he was declared unfit to possess a firearm.
The Star