Slain runners remembered

Tears were shed and flowers laid yesterday at the spot where five runners were mowed down by an allegedly drunk driver.

After mechanical engineer Sibusiso Langa, 44, appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on five charges of murder, the friends and family of the four women and a man visited the crash site in Midrand, north of Johannesburg .

"I walked around, trying to make sense of the accident, prayed and then laid a bunch of yellow roses.

"I am angry; what happened was so horrible and I wish someone could give me appropriate answers," said a friend of one of the runners who asked to be identified only as Zama.

The Vodacom Striders Running Club will hold a memorial run tonight followed by a moment's silence at the crash site.

Geo Tlale was a member of the club and was killed in the crash while another, Khanyisa Stengile, was seriously injured when a silver Mercedes-Benz ML 500 slammed into them. She has been moved out of critical care after successful surgery at Fourways Life Hospital.

Other runners, Moroese Mokoatsi, Reneilwe Lesenyeho, Given Mills, and Nomvula Dumako belonged to the Midrand Striders and Goldfields Athletics Club.

Magistrate Maryke de la Rey told Langa that if he was convicted, he would face a minimum sentence of 15 years for each count provided he was a first-time offender.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said: "If we are convinced there were elements of intention and we can prove it was murder, we charge him with murder."

Langa is expected to apply for bail on Friday.