Grief hung heavy outside Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court on Thursday as families of 14 children killed in ahorrific Vaal scholar transport crashstruggled to come to terms with a reality no parent should ever face. “We just want justice so that we can eventually find peace,” one family representative said quietly. “We cannot say how many years he should serve.
That is for the courts. But justice must be done.” Inside the courtroom, Ayanda Dludla, the 22-year-old driver accused in the crash that killed 14 children, stood briefly in the dock before the matter was postponed to April 22 to allow police to complete their investigations. Dludla faces 14 counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, and reckless and negligent driving following the devastating crash involving a minibus and a truck.
He will remain in custody while the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decides on the final charges and where the trial will be heard. According to his lawyer, Reward Nxumalo, the young driver has withdrawn his bail application while the defence waits to study the police docket. “Indeed, my client has opted to abandon bail.
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We are waiting for the investigations to be concluded so that we can really see what the docket contains before we can possibly decide on the bail application,” Nxumalo said. The attorney said Dludla was deeply affected by the tragedy and struggling emotionally while behind bars.
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