Durban woman in fatal pedestrian crash gets fine, house arrest
A woman who drove into a police officer in Durban, killing him, has avoided a jail sentence.
In 2013, Nolwazi Nzimande ran a red robot near Berea Centre in Durban and slammed into Phumlani Mbatha.
She drove more than a kilometre with Mbatha pinned to the roof of her car before he fell off.
Nzimande then fled the scene and tried to cover up the crash.
In April, she was convicted of culpable homicide and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
She was today sentenced to three years' house arrest and an R8000 fine. Her license has also been suspended for six months.
Mbatha's mother, Nonhlanhla Mbatha is gutted by the sentence, which she sees as a slap on the wrist
"I'm so sad - I don't like it. He was supposed to give him a [serious] sentence for taking my son, driving with my son for over a kilometre and dropping him on the side of the road. They left him there, they went and washed the car," Mbatha said.
Magistrate Simphiwe Hlophe gave Nzimande five years in prison but he wholly suspended the sentence for five years, on condition that she's not found guilty of culpable homicide during that time.
She had asked the magistrate to waive the suspension of her license but State advocate Krishen Shah had argued she hadn't shown any remorse and Hlophe agreed.
"The deceased died in a very cruel manner. His death had a devastating blow to the family ...(Nzimande) did not apologize to the family as a result the family is still grieving the loss of their son.
Although what (Nzimande) did had a profound impact on the family of the deceased, she seemed not to care. What she did was cruel," he said.
US national John Solomon, who tried to help Nzimande cover up the crash and was also found guilty of attempting to defeat the course of justice, was fined R3000.