The truck driver who lost control of his articulated Volvo truck and crashed into 13 other vehicles on the N3 southbound just before the Mariannhill toll plaza made a brief appearance in the Pinetown magistrate’s court on Wednesday.
42-year-old Vusi Tega, a Zimbabwean national, faces two counts of culpable homicide in connection with the deaths of three people. The death count was revised to three after having been initially put at four.
Amongst the dead are Minority Front leader Shameen Thakur Rajbansi’s son, Pradhil Thakur Kooblall and his fiancée Priyanka Nunkumar.
Tega was represented by Samlal Garbaran.
Watch: Dashcam of N3 crash near Mariannhill Toll Plaza emerges online
Garbaran told the court the defence and the state had agreed that the case be postponed as addresses needed to be verified.
Maxwell Tega, the driver’s cousin, said they were all traumatised by the accident in which three people died. He expressed condolences to the families of the crash victims.
“No one deserves to die in that manner,” said Tega.
He said the incident had also taken a toll on his cousin’s two children who are aware of the crash after seeing videos on social media.
He said his cousin had been driving since he obtained his licence in 2009, and had been living in the Bluff, south of Durban, since 2018.
The case was adjourned to Friday.
