THE KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Mr. Willies Mchunu, has welcomed and applauded the ten year sentence given by the Pietermaritzburg magistrate court yesterday (05 April 2016) that was passed down to Mcabango Hlongwa who left a couple dead after a hit and run in Dalton.
It will be remembered that Sithabile Mkhasibe and her would-be fiancé Xolani Nxele were out jogging when Hlongwa ploughed into them. Despite impact, Hlongwa continued to drive with Nxele’s body on the bonnet and Mkhasibe’s against the windscreen. Nxele’s body did slide off the car but Mkhasibe’s clung on to the car. Hlongwa then dumped Mkhasibe’s body in a nearby sugar cane field.
The police convicted Hlongwa with driving under the influence for which he received a year in prison, and defeating the ends of justice, which earned him three years in prison, as well as two counts of culpable homicide which each landed him five years. The total effective sentence he will serve will be 10 years’ imprisonment.
Mchunu welcomed this decision and noted that such cases give hope to those who advocate for the Criminal Justice System to execute harsher, punitive measures against road transgressors.
“I welcome the court’s decision of passing down a 10 year prison sentence to Mr. Mcabango Hlongwa, which will send a strong message that traffic infringements are serious offences with potentially deadly results as happened in this case. We have always advocated for harsher sentences, because they will go a long way in helping us reduce the road carnage.
In the meantime, while we still do not have traffic courts such strides make us see that our work does not fall on deaf ears. Moreover, even though we know that no amount of jail time can bring back loved ones to the affected families, but at least justice has been served. I would like to caution motorists to obey the rules of the road and to remain diligent while on the road,” said Mchunu.