Fifty-six-year-old Mninikhaya Mvuli appeared briefly at the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
Mvuli has been charged with five counts of culpable homicide and reckless driving two days after pupils being transported to school were flung from the vehicle and killed following a collision involving a traffic light.
Also read: Local funeral homes offer free services to families of M. Plain crash
It is understood that the driver lost control of the bakkie which rolled multiple times.
Police said the collision on AZ Berman Drive in Mitchells Plain on Tuesday morning claimed the lives of five children between the ages of seven and eleven.
Additionally, two injured children were rushed to hospital, and one of them is understood to still be in the ICU.
It has been reported that Mvuli’s family said a relative also died in the accident.
The Western Cape Government said ‘initial information suggests the bakkie in which the learners were being transported hit a traffic light, resulting in the children being thrown off the back’.
The case against the driver of the Toyota Hilux bakkie has been postponed until Monday, 5 June 2023.
‘Mvuli told the court he intends to apply for bail and his case has been postponed until Monday for a bail application date. The state will oppose his application,’ said provincial National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.
56-year-old Mninikhaya Mvuli is appearing at the Mitchells Plain magistrate court. He was driving the vehicle that killed five minors on Tuesday. He faces five culpable homicide and reckless driving charges pic.twitter.com/hq7wICYZs4
— Veve (@LudidiVelani) June 1, 2023
It also emerged that Mvuli has a previous rape conviction dating back to 1992, according to EWN. Ntabazalila said that more details would be revealed at his bail application.
Speaking to the media outside the court, Mvuli’s family said they were also distraught and asked for forgiveness from the families of the deceased.
‘I’m very sad because my uncle is a very calm person. He’s a pastor and a very well-respected man in the community,’ said Phumeza Mvuli, niece to Mninikhaya Mvuli.
Mobility MEC Ricardo Mackenzie said after the incident: ‘I am outraged by this incident involving a vehicle transporting learners… resulting in these tragic and avoidable deaths.’
‘How many more children must we lose on our roads before the transportation of these precious lives is taken seriously by those driving the vehicles?’
Provincial authorities said the vehicle ferrying the children was not a designated education department transport vehicle.
Also read:
Mitchells Plain community holds memorial run after tragic accident
Picture: @LudidiVelani / Twitter
