Blue light driver faces charges

The driver of the blue light vehicle that knocked West Rand teenager Thomas Ferreira off his motorbike will be criminally prosecuted, and disciplined internally, according to a report on Thursday.

Joseph Modomai Semietjie, a member of the police service's VIP unit, was allegedly the driver of the BMW X5 transporting Gauteng MEC Humphrey Mmemezi on November 5, 2011.

The deputy director of public prosecutions in Johannesburg, advocate Andrew Chauke, has ordered charges to be laid against Semietjie, a spokeswoman from his office, Phindi Louw, told Beeld newspaper on Wednesday.

Further details of the exact charge could not yet be discussed, Louw said, because Semietjie had not yet received his summons.

Andrew Morton, who witnessed the accident, said on Wednesday that he had received at short notice a summons to attend a police service disciplinary hearing this week.

According to the newspaper, Semietjie's disciplinary hearing would start on Thursday.

Ferreira spent weeks in a coma after the accident, and faces intensive, expensive long-term rehabilitation.

Three days after the accident, Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane promised publicly that the provincial government would cover Ferreira's medical costs, but she later backed out of her commitment.