The Road Traffic Management Corporation has welcomed a prison sentence handed to an Eastern Cape taxi driver who was involved in a road crash in which five people were killed and 13 injured.
The Grahamstown magistrate last week found Mr M Mthungata (35) guilty of culpable homicide and sentenced him to six years imprisonment, with two years suspended.

Mthungata was driving a minibus taxi on the N2 outside Grahamstown on the 4th December 2010 when it overturned and burnt out causing death and injury to passengers. RTMC's Accident and Incident Investigation Division investigated the crash and gave evidence which led to the conviction and sentence.

Welcoming the sentence RTMC CEO Advocate Makhosini Msibi said "the sentence will send a strong message to negligent and reckless drivers that their action will not be tolerated".
The RTMC investigated 338 major crashes in the past three years ( 107 in 2012/13, 122 in 2013/14 and 109 in 2014/15). Major crashes are defined as accidents in which five or more people die or crashes involving four or more vehicles with a fatality or crashes involving the transportation of hazardous substances and there is a fatalities or any other crash that the RTMC may deem necessary to investigate.

A total of 288 cases were referred for prosecution in the past three years (99 in 2012/13, 118 in 2013/14 and 71 in 2014/15).
The RTMC would like to remind motorists to respect the rules of their road at all times and keep their vehicle in a roadworthy condition or their face tough consequences which may include time in jail.

 

Issued by the Road Traffic Management Corporation