The families of two officers who were killed after a drunk driver ran them over during a roadblock have together with the Metro police, applied for an appeal after the accused was let off the hook following a suspended sentence.
Sophie Ngoasheng and Winnie Mokgolo met their sudden death when Albert Pretorius crashed into them during a roadblock on Witkoppen Road in Fourways in January 2018. Pretorius walked out of Alexandra Magistrate’s Court as a ‘free man’ on 20 January after he was handed a six-year sentence with five years wholly suspended for two culpable homicide charges on the condition that he is not convicted for a similar crime during the period of suspension. He was also given the option to serve one year in prison or pay a fine of R10 000.
Spokesperson for JMPD Senior Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said they were disappointed and shocked about the light sentence. He described it as a ‘slap in the face’ of hard-working officers who were exalting effort into fighting the scourge of drunk and driving.
Minnaar said the Metro police department had applied for appeal with the families of the deceased. He added that the Chief of JMPD David Tembe has requested all findings of the case to be made available for discussion and scrutiny by the City of Johannesburg’s legal team.
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“We have applied for an appeal for the case to be heard in the High Court. This is almost a no sentence. It has given us the impression that it is fine for a drunk driver to cause accidents and get people killed,” added Minnaar.
Meanwhile, Mokgolo’s sibling June said her sister’s case took two traumatic years to a point of no justice. June, who is currently looking after her deceased sister’s youngest child, said the country’s justice system has failed her family. “Now I understand why some people resort to taking justice into their own hands. I am not saying I will do that but from what my family has experienced, there’s no justice.
“This case dragged for two years…two years of trauma and more than 14 court appearances, for what? So, he could walk away while I have to explain to my six-year-old nephew where his mother is.”
June added that although it might take a while for their appeal application to be processed, her family was determined to exhaust all avenues to get justice for her sister.
JMPD statistics in November last year revealed a significant rise in the number of drunks and driving arrests with 1 043 arrests made in October compared to 1 033 in September. At the time of the release of the statistics, Tembe said there were 44 road fatalities in October – 14 drivers, five passengers and 25 pedestrians.
“Just in the festive season alone, officers arrested more than 400 drunk drivers. This sentence is unacceptable, disappointing and demoralising to the officers who work day and night arresting drunk drivers,” concluded Minnaar.
