A 27-year-old man from Germiston was sentenced to 25 years direct imprisonment by a Boksburg magistrate on May 16 for driving into pedestrians on a pavement in Ramaphosa informal settlement in 2014, killing one person and injuring another.
The court found that Nkosinathi Shabangu, a first-time offender, unlawfully and intentionally killed Seneliso Maphalala and attempted to kill Lonwabo Funda by deliberately knocking them down with a motor vehicle.
Shabangu was charged with murder, attempted murder, reckless or negligent driving, failure to render assistance and failure to stop the vehicle after the accident.
He pleaded not guilty on December 3, 2019, and was found guilty of murder and attempted murder on March 1, this year.
He was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment on count one and three years on count two. The sentence for count two will run concurrently with the first count.
What transpired on November 1, 2014, in Fish Eagle Street, was the result of an altercation between the Shabangu and Maphalala and some of his friends outside a tavern.
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According to a witness statement, after the fight broke out someone took Shabangu to his car (VW Golf) and the four others, including Maphalala and Funda, left.
Shabangu started his car and drove off the road straight towards Maphalala on the pavement, knocking him down with the car and then speeding away.
“Seneliso was laying on the ground and I called his sister but she was not answering so I went to their house and informed her what had happened,” the witness told Reiger Park police.
The deceased’s parents said they rushed to the scene after receiving a phone call and called an ambulance. Maphalala was rushed to Tambo Memorial Hospital at around 03:00 where doctors informed them their son was critical. He died the next day at 19:00.
The cause of death was determined as blunt force head injuries.
According to a correctional services evaluation, Shabangu did meet the requirements for correctional supervision.
However, probation officer Portia Murudi was of the view that this is not suitable for the accused considering the trauma that the victims went through and that he showed remorse and pleaded not guilty.
It was Shabangu’s contention that he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him because he bumped the deceased by mistake, not intentionally. He also said he stopped the car and as he was about to check what happened, but then he saw an angry mob running toward him and so drove away.
He reported the incident had happened on Saturday when he handed himself over to the police on Tuesday. He was then arrested.
Magistrate Ramupfhufhi presided and prosecutor Fyfe represented the State.
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