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News to inspire professional drivers of all size vehicles in southern Africa
Nr 33, June 201 5
Can good come from Fields Hill Crash? Sanele May, the trucker who crashed into and killed 24 people on Fields Hill nearly two years ago, has a massive support group. Jonathan Erasmus reports for Media24 the 25-year-old Swazinational May, who is serving a 10 year jail term at the Umzinto Correctional Services facility, has since the outset of the accident enjoyed the support of a large, mainly female, middleclass upper highway support group. They supply him with everything from clothes, tuck, phonecards and regular visits. The reason they support him is mixed, but largely has to with the belief that May is a victim of poor enforcement and neglected safety standards of trucks in South African roads. This despite May having used forged papers and a fraudulent license to cause the largest single death toll yet in the KwaZulu-Natal province, Founder of the Sanele May Support Group, Peach Piche, said what has set May’s story apart was that he “accepted
Swazi driver Sanele May wants to leave prison a better man.
Photo: News24
responsibility”, he was “remorseful” and they believe he wasn’t soley responsible. “This has never been one dimensional. The impact on the community has been massive. The accident was the largest of its kind in KZN and Sanele is paying his price. But now we need greater pressure on the trucking industry to comply with the law,” said Piche. In September 2012 the truck hurtled down Fields Hill after its brakes failed. May took the first off-ramp towards Richmond Rd, Pinetown. It is here his truck
went through the intersection, smashing into two cars and four minibus taxis killing 22 people immediately. Another two people later died in hospital. He was sentenced to eight years and 10 months. He had already spent 12 months in custody. He pleaded guilty to 31 charges in the Durban High Court in November 2014 including culpable homicide, fraud, entering South Africa illegally, possession of fake driver’s licence and one charge of failing to comply with a road traffic sign. He was 23 years-old at the
time. “There are three levels he has to deal with; he is an orphan, he is in a foreign jail and he lives with the trauma every day,” said Piche, a mother of two. She said without the support of more than 30 people his “journey would be a lot harder”.
“He maintains he wants to leave prison a better man than what he came in. He wants to become an advocate for road beter safety.” Piche, a successful businesswoman in her own right, said running the organisation, which was started out of impulse, became all consuming. “For six months I went to visit him in jail every day. I got involved because I saw a need. We can’t help everyone but we can make a difference for one person.” * See page 3 for Sagekal Logistics' reaction.