A taxi driver on trial in the Pietermaritzburg High Court for killing 15 of his passengers, has pleaded not guilty.
|||Durban - A taxi driver on trial in the Pietermaritzburg High Court for murdering 15 of his passengers and attempting to murder four others pleaded not guilty on Monday to causing the accident that claimed their lives in September 2011.
Acting Judge Piet Bezuidenhout asked Khululeka Bongani Gwala, 25, if he understood that, if found guilty, he would be facing life imprisonment on each of the murder counts. He responded that his attorney, Mohamed Motala, had explained it to him.
Gwala claimed the taxi’s brakes failed, which caused the accident. The taxi had been on its way from Cramond to Pietermaritzburg.
State advocate Candy Kander said the evidence would show that Gwala knowingly crossed the solid barrier line in Dr Chota Motala Road in Pietermaritzburg and went on to the wrong side of the road when he knew it was unsafe.
He then saw a truck coming towards him and tried to avoid hitting it. The truck pushed the taxi backwards, off the road and down an embankment where the two vehicles came to a standstill.
Gwala was trapped behind the steering wheel and was freed soon afterwards. Thirteen of the passengers died on impact. Two others died in hospital. Four were seriously injured. “He drove at an excessive speed towards oncoming traffic and knew the danger he was putting the passengers in. He also knew that the vehicle was not in good condition,” Kander said.
Although the braking system was not 100 percent, the accident would not have happened if he had been driving within the speed limit.
The taxi was also overloaded.
Kander said the surviving four passengers would be called to testify. Motorists who had been stuck in morning traffic and accident scene investigators would also be called.
The Mercury