By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
A 34-year-old, Celumusa Ngwenya has appeared in the Ladysmith Magistrate’s Court in KwaZulu-Natal in connection with a crash which claimed the lives of six family members of Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga.
Chikunga was the Deputy Minister of Transport at the time.
The accident claimed the lives of the minister’s son, daughter-in-law and four grandchildren.
The accused faces six counts of culpable homicide.
The crash occurred in July 2022 on the N11 between Ladysmith and Newcastle.
Chikunga, who was in court on Tuesday, said they wanted to face the suspect.
“We wanted to meet and face this person for the first time so that I can match the accident and the face of the person and maybe for him to see us that we are human beings and that we also exist. It’s not like people that died on the road, and they have no family. We are family, and we are there.”
KwaZulu-Natal National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the State issued a summons for Ngwenya for the accident that occurred on 17 July 2022 on the N11 outside Ladysmith.
Ngwenya was summoned after prosecutor-guided investigations, she added.
Chikunga has expressed confidence in the country’s legal system.
“I wish South Africa could know the pain that accidents cause to families. I am a witness to that. If this person were not drunk, whether proven in court or not, he knows that if he were not drunk, we wouldn’t be here, my children would be alive. So, he cannot claim that there is any alcohol worth the pain that he has put us through.”
The suspect is currently out on bail.
“During court proceedings [on Tuesday], he opted for legal aid assistance, and the case was postponed to 14 February for consultation and copies of the docket,” said Ramkisson-Kara.