Pinetown crash driver to plead guilty

The Swazi national whose lorry ploughed through a Pinetown intersection killing 24 people is set to plead guilty to 24 counts of culpable homicide next month.

Prosecutor Alistair Walters told the Durban High Court on Wednesday that an agreement had been reached with Sanele Goodness May's counsel for May to plead on October 10 and for his legal team to submit the final documentation in terms of the plea agreement.

Louis Barnard, for May, said an agreement in principle had been agreed on.

Judge Esther Steyn postponed the case to October 10 but not before telling May stringent procedures needed to be followed for a formal plea bargain.

May's legal team would need to submit all documentation related to the plea to the court by September 23.

On the evening of September 5 last year, in rush-hour traffic, May's truck smashed into four minibus taxis and two cars at an intersection at the bottom of Fields Hill in Pinetown.

Twenty-two people were killed at the scene. Two died later in hospital.

May has been in custody ever since and was previously denied bail in the Pinetown Magistrate's Court.

Initially he was charged with 24 counts of murder, but this was changed to 24 culpable homicide charges.

 

 

(File photo: Gallo images)