Inkosi Mhlabunzima Maphumulo House: We welcome a 10 year sentence handed down to a driver who crashed into an accident scene on the N3 last year, resulting in the death of our Principal Provincial Inspector Zithulele Ntshangase
and Tow Truck Driver Kavish Ramnaraya.
The families of the two victims had their lives turned upside down by a reckless driver who fled the scene after the accident.
We congratulate the Road Traffic Inspectorate, the South African Police Service, and the National Prosecuting Authority for working efficiently on this case to ensure successful prosecution and sentence.
We wish to inform the Ntshangase and Ramnaraya families, relatives, and friends that Ndumiso Petros Dzandibe, 35, was convicted and sentenced to ten years for the following:
●Two counts of culpable homicide charges,
●One of reckless driving,
●One count for exceeding the speed limit
●One count for failing to perform the duties expected of a driver after an accident.
We are still exploring the possibility of investigating how Dzandibe obtained his driver’s license.
We have not ruled out the possibility that he bought his driver’s license through a criminal syndicate that has infiltrated driving centers.
Last week, 33 suspects appeared in Richards Bay Magistrates court in connection with paying R2500 for licenses at the Licensing and Testing Centre in Melmoth Local Municipality.
As we reported, the number has increased to 67.
Dzandibe who had been employed as a truck driver for a mere three weeks prior to the accident, admitted to driving at a high speed and thus failed to see the safety cones that had been set up cordoning an accident scene.
After hitting our traffic officer and tow truck driver, who had been attending to an earlier accident scene after a collision, Dzandibe fled the scene on foot and was eventually arrested a week later.
As part of October Transport Month, we will have meetings with the freight industry to discuss, among other issues, the importance of strengthening their recruitment processes when hiring truck drivers.
We will recall another incident where a truck driven by Sanele May killed 24 people in 2013.
It was found that May had a fake drivers licence and had entered South Africa illegally.
Finally, we wish to send a strong message that Alufakwa Lubuya nesiphulamthetho KwaZulu-Natal.
Easy life through cutting corners, disrespecting authority, and disregarding the rules of the road is the thing of the past. We undertake to act firmly and decisively.
