Durban — Ayanda Mtshali, who was one of three girls who died after a taxi ploughed into them, would have been 17 years old and in Grade 12 this year.
The Grade 9 pupil at Newlands East Secondary School died along with Thima Ngiba and 13-year-old Luyanda Ngubane when they were hit by Siboniso Bethell Zwane’s minibus taxi at the intersection of Dumisani Makhaye Drive and Inanda Road. Zwane was sentenced to eight years imprisonment on Tuesday in the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court. Ayanda’s sister, Nonto Ngubane, said justice had not been served.
“An imprisonment sentence of eight years, when lives were lost, when we had someone pass away, and when we buried someone. We did not receive counselling. My mother is sick because she lost her child and the stress brought about by the court appearances,” Ngubane said.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa came to our house to see my mom and he promised she would be assisted with counselling. He even said that while counselling would not bring back the lost life, my mother needed it for closure. Where is the justice and closure when he is sentenced to just eight years? He’ll be eating every day in prison. My mother is now unemployed; what is she going to eat?”
Ngubane said what hurt the families of the deceased the most was that Zwane continued to drive a minibus taxi while he was out on bail. Ngubane said none of the families were kept abreast of the court proceedings, nor did they meet the investigating officer.
“We are in K section and going to the court in E section is a walking distance. We would have been there every time because we are the ones who lost a life, given the opportunity. We were left out in the cold when it came to this case,” Ngubane said.
She said what angered her the most was the likelihood that Zwane would not serve the full eight years, taking into consideration parole.
“Since 2019 we have had no one care about how the family was doing following the crash. My mother’s state of emotion led her to quit her job. She is heartbroken,” Ngubane said.
Daily News