Pongola crash truck driver's sentence should serve as a deterrent - KZN Transport Dept
On Thursday, Sibusiso Siyaya was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being found guilty of reckless driving, failing to report an accident and 20 counts of murder.
FILE: A picture of Pongola crash that claimed 20 lives on 16 September 2022. Picture: TrafficSA/Twitter
JOHANNESBURG - The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Transport Department says a 23-year jail sentence handed down to a truck driver who killed 20 people in Pongola should serve as a harsh lesson to reckless drivers.
Sibusiso Siyaya was sentenced at the Pongola Magistrates Court on Thursday, after being found guilty of reckless driving, failing to report an accident and 20 counts of murder.
In 2022, Siyaya's truck collided with a bakkie transporting pupils from school.
He fled the crash scene and was caught on camera - which was widely shared online.
READ: Resident: Pongola truck crash could have been avoided if govt listened to us
The department's Kwanele Ncalane called this a historic judgment.
"The fact that Siyaya was sentenced, for amongst others, murder proves the seriousness in which the criminal justice system is attaching to road traffic offenders. We hope that this judgement will serve as a harsh lesson to other reckless drivers on the road."