The inebriated driver whose antics in a hearse packed with people and stolen sheep left the nation aghast over the festive season was freed on bail for drunk driving - but ended up behind bars for livestock theft.
Mncedisi Rasmeni was nearly seven times over the legal limit when traffic officers breathalysed him between Queenstown and Tarkastadt in the Eastern Cape just before midnight on December 22.
"They noticed that the vehicle's windows were steaming and although the engine was switched off, the vehicle was shaking. There were 15 sheep and five people inside the hearse," traffic officers said this week.
The 35-year-old man from Queenstown, who works for Avbob, was sent to deliver a flower arch in what should have been a 45-minute journey.
He was arrested eight hours later in the Mercedes-Benz Vito with his wife, four more men, a minor and 15 sheep in the vehicle.
Avbob's assistant general manager of funeral services, Adrian Bester, said Rasmeni had been employed by "our local agent in Queenstown" since April 2009.
"He was sent on his errand at 15:45 and when he failed to return to the office by 16:30, the branch manager attempted to contact him telephonically. When she was unable to reach him, she went to the police for assistance and a case was opened," said Bester.
The owner of the stolen sheep, Japie van Gent, said eight of the animals had suffocated to death.
Eastern Cape police said Rasmeni appeared in the Queenstown Magistrate's Court on Christmas Eve on a charge of drunk driving and using a motor vehicle without the owner's permission. He was granted bail of R1500 but was locked up for theft shortly after.
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