Gardener used employer's car for drinking binge and killed three friends

A gardener left in charge of a family's pets used their car for a drinking binge and killed three of his friends in a high-speed crash.

Now, in a sequel to the events of Christmas 2012, Mbongeni Sithole has had his sentences for three culpable homicides reduced, meaning his total jail time will be nine years instead of 15.

Pietermaritzburg high court acting judge Rose Mogwera said Sithole deserved to go to jail but the three five-year sentences imposed in 2016 by the city's regional court were “grossly inappropriate, especially given that they are inextricably linked” to the same incident.

She reduced each sentence to three years but did not alter Sithole's one-year sentence for using Neelan Chetty's car without his consent. This sentence runs concurrently with the others, which are consecutive. 

Mogwera's judgment said Chetty gave Sithole his salary, an annual bonus, a birthday present and the remote control for his gate before leaving for a holiday in Johannesburg on December 22, 2012.

Sithole was supposed to use the remote to feed the family pets but the following day he used it to take Chetty's wife's Peugeot and pick up four friends, Bongani Zuma, Sandile Shoba, Nhlanhla Zuma and Khiti Mohlakwane.

They drove to Howick and bought beer, then continued to Mathandubisi where they carried on drinking in a tavern. They returned to Howick and bought more beers before heading home to Cedara.

“It was while they were travelling along the N3 that the collision occurred,” said Mogwera, who referred to evidence given at Sithole's trial by Bongani Zuma, the only other survivor of the crash.

“Mr Zuma testified that [Sithole] was driving at an excessive speed, following a certain motor vehicle in the left lane. As [Sithole] got very close to that vehicle, instead of slowing down he decided to change lanes and in the process of doing so he lost control of the vehicle.

“It then hit the silver barrier on the extreme right side of the road and it capsized. The damages to the vehicle were quite extensive, it was a complete wreck. The other three friends who were passengers in the vehicle lost their lives as a result of the collision.”

Sithole, who broke his legs in the crash, told the trial court Chetty gave him permission to use the car, denied he had been drinking or speeding and claimed another vehicle caused the crash.

“This version was rejected by the trial court as being not reasonably possibly true, and rightly so,” said Mogwera.

“The serious consequences which resulted from this incident cannot be overstressed. The evidence ... reveals that Sithole was in a position of trust, which he abused when he used the vehicle of his employer without his knowledge and permission.

“He then drove the vehicle while he was under the influence of alcohol on a public road which is notoriously busy. He drove at an excessive speed while having passengers in the vehicle.

“These were all young men who still had many years ahead of them. Undoubtedly their families must have been devastated by this incident.”

Mogwera said there were parallels between Sithole's case and the 2010 incident in which  rapper Molemo Katleho Maarohanye, better known as Jub Jub, killed four children while drag racing with his friend Themba Tshabalala.

Maarohanye, who was driving under the influence of drugs, was originally convicted of murder and jailed for 25 years, but on appeal he was convicted of culpable homicide and given a 10-year sentence, serving just over four years before being released on parole in 2017.

Mogwera said Sithole was “the author of his own misfortune. His decision to drive at an excessive speed was a conscious assumption of risk on his part.”

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