Lunchtime news : Pinetown truck driver sentenced
THE driver of the truck that smashed into four taxis and two cars in Pinetown in September last year killing 24 people, has been sentenced to eight years and 10 months in prison.
Swazi national, Sanele Goodness May, was sentenced in the Durban High Court, after he pleaded guilty to 24 counts of culpable homicide, two charges of fraud, a charge of entering South Africa illegally, two charges of being in possession of fake driver's licences, one charge of operating a vehicle without a valid professional driving permit, and one charge of failing to comply with a road traffic sign.
May has been in custody ever since the accident and was denied bail.
He kept his head down as photographers tried to take pictures of him before he entered the dock this morning.
A small group of supporters waved at him in court. His plea formed part of a plea and sentencing agreement.
(File photo: Gallo images)
IN Johannesburg, three people were injured when a truck drove into the back of a car on the N1 North between Malibongwe and William Nicol.
Paramedics found the car in the middle of the highway, with various lanes that had to be closed to reach the scene.
IN KwaZulu-Natal an elderly woman was killed when a truck rolled onto her car outside Pietermaritzburg.
The heavy truck had a crane attachment and crushed her vehicle.
SOUTH Africa's Parliament would have been in pieces was it not for our judicial system.
That's the word from Mathole Motshekga, chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Justice.
“As politicians sometimes we may make remarks somewhere and may suggest otherwise, but if it were not for this judiciary even Parliament would have fallen into pieces," he explained.
The last sitting of Parliament for the year concluded late on Thursday night.
It's been a heated six months in the National Assembly, where chaos reigned riot police were called in and sessions were postponed.
It may not be the end, with the EFF going to court over the decision to suspend 12 of its MPs.
(File photo: Gallo images)
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma has told the Pan African Youth Summit in the East Rand that young people should start regarding Africa as just as good a place as anywhere else in the world.
He says the young are still suffering from the impact of colonialism in Africa.
"They promoted themselves and made us believe our capitals were London, Paris and Lisbon and made us want to spend weekends in these instead of developing ourselves," he said.
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