The Grahamstown Magistrate's court heard on Monday that negligent driving by army corporal Zingisile Ephraim Nikelo had led to the death of a Grahamstown resident and Ironman athlete, Dave Hanton, in April last year.
The Grahamstown Magistrate's court heard on Monday that negligent driving by army corporal Zingisile Ephraim Nikelo had led to the death of a Grahamstown resident and Ironman athlete, Dave Hanton, in April last year.
Magistrate Louis Claassen, of the Grahamstown Magistrate's Court, found Nikelo, 41, guilty of culpable homicide. Nikelo drove into Dave Hanton, a local athlete who was training with a friend on the Cradock road late in the afternoon of 25 April, 2010.
Hanton died at the scene as a result of the incident. Hanton's family and friends sat quietly at the court, sometimes looking down, fighting tears as the magistrate read the three-hour judgment. Nikelo also sat with his family before the magistrate entered the court.
Two women and two men stared at journalists as they took pictures of Nikelo as he sat down, but this time, unlike at the previous court appearance, Nikelo's entourage didn't try to stop them. Nikelo even managed a smile, telling journalists that they could take pictures.
Constable Vuyiswa Mphumanto, the police officer from Aliwal North who was the first on the scene on the day of the incident, would have her transcribed evidence sent to her station commander to see if she was fit to be a public servant, said Claassen.
This was a win for state prosecutor, Vukile Mdolomba who, after Mphumanto gave evidence, had called her a liar and said she was unfit to be a police officer. Mphumanto's version of events after the accident was found by the magistrate to contain contradictions. He said her testimony was unreliable. Pre-sentencing and sentencing will be on 27 June at the Grahamstown Magistrate's Court.
