The wailing of a grieving mother could be heard in the Pongola magistrate's court after she fled the room, unable to contain herself as other mothers testified to the impact of the loss of their children, killed by coal truck Sibusiso Siyaya who drove into oncoming traffic for 1.2km before smashing into the vehicle taking them to school.
One mother told how her son had attempted to commit suicide because he blamed himself for insisting that his younger brother go to school that day. He happened upon the scene of utter carnage, as 20 people, 18 school-going children, the driver and a teacher, lay dead in the wreckage of the Toyota LDV.
Another mother, Precious Nkonyana, said in a victim impact statement she was “emotionally wounded” and had a “deep bleeding scar that she would never recover from”.
Her eldest son, Lekhukuthula Nkonyana, was driving the children to school. Her two youngest boys, who were 14 and five, were passengers.
The extended family buried five children, her sister-in-law losing two of her own.
Siyaya was convicted of 20 counts of murder, one of reckless driving and one of failing to report the accident and perform the duties of a driver by KwaZulu-Natal acting judge Garth Davis this week.
He sentenced him to an effective 20 years behind bars.
Davis rejected Siyaya’s version that his brakes had failed when he entered the Itshelejuba Pass on his way to deliver coal to Richards Bay.
The judge said evidence, including dashcam footage, showed that Siyaya had been in control of the truck but had recklessly overtaken congested traffic in an attempt to maximise his earnings through his company’s incentive scheme — the more coal he delivered, the more he earned.
Davis said the parents of the children who were travelling to school that day had their education uppermost in their minds.
“Anyone who heard the evidence of the mothers and read the victim impact statements would have been moved ... the evidence was tangibly suffused with anguish and pain. And that pain was directly caused by what you [Siyaya] did.
“You decided that the laws governing driving on our roads, that most people obey, did not apply to you.”
He said videos of the scene showed children screaming, dying in the arms of their siblings. The victim impact statements were testament not only to the horror of the crash but to the effect the trauma still has on the families of the victims.
Turning to Sibaya's personal circumstances, he said he was now 30-years-old and had been in custody since September 17 2022, a day after the crash.
Siyaya had fled, shirtless, from the scene. He was uninjured, and the next day went to the police posing as a company representative wanting documents from the cab of the crashed truck. But he was arrested.
“He tendered an apology to the families when he gave his evidence, but remains steadfast that he was in no way responsible for the accident.”
The judge said despite his best efforts to show remorse, this was a case of “far too little, too late”. His apology had been rejected by the victims families and “a gnawing pang of remorse and contrition was completely absent”.
He said the evidence showed that Siyaya had driven at excessive speeds and it appeared he was motivated by increasing his earnings.
He had disregarded a mandatory stop sign for heavy trucks.
When he approached slow-moving traffic, he crossed the double barrier line and accelerated.
When oncoming traffic approached, he made no effort to return to the correct lane — instead he accelerated and continued on the wrong side of the road for 1.2km.
“Numerous near misses did not deter him. It is by a significant margin the worst driving this court has come across.”
One parent, who lost his son, welcomed the 20 year sentence.
Identifying himself as Hadebe, he said he hoped the sentence would serve as a lesson to other road drivers who flout the rules of the road.
“When you drive on the road one should always be cautious of other road users. When you drive a vehicle be aware of your surroundings and not be reckless because this could have bad consequences,” said Hadebe.
Hadebe said he continues to feel pangs of agony after his son's death.
“As I am speaking to you I can feel the pain from this wound, which continues to fester in me. I know that we all do not know how we will be called but the accident was a harrowing experience which I struggle to erase from my mind,” he said.
Community leader Siyabonga Mayisela said the sentencing had brought some sense of relief and closure.
“We are pleased that the matter has been brought into finality. We cannot do anything to bring those departed souls back.”
For Nokuthula Mamba the death of her son Siyanda left her emotionally distraught.
“I have never been happy since the loss of my son. Siyanda’s grant also helped cater for some of my needs as I am unemployed. It’s been difficult to accept that Siyanda is gone,” wrote Mamba.
She said his youngest sister often asked about her brother.
“I did not know how to answer her and struggled to tell her about what happened to her brother. My life changed since then and has never been the same,” said Mamba.
While promises had been made about helping ease the pain of coping with the trauma, they were yet to be fulfilled.
She believed Siyaya was not remorseful.
“I could see him in court that he was arrogant. His parents did not come to us to show empathy. We understand that no parent sends a child to do crime.”
Davis said prosecutor Krishan Shah had not asked for the prescribed minimum sentence of 25 years for each murder conviction to be imposed because of substantial and compelling circumstances, including the fact that Siyaya had no direct intention to kill.
However, he said, the sentence had to reflect the court’s condemnation of Siyaya’s horrendous driving conduct.
He said the 20 counts of murder flowed from the same sequence of actions and they should be taken together for the purpose of sentencing.
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