Former MEC for Police, Roads, and Transport, Butana Komphela, was sentenced to three years but his sentence was suspended. The National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA) spokesperson, Phaladi Shuping, says Brandfort Magistrate, Riaas Hanware, found the latter guilty for being responsible for an accident that claimed the life of Samuel Manyova (50).

In 2019, Komphela was involved in an accident whilst driving from the direction of Theunissen to Bloemfontein. His BMW collided with a Volkswagen Polo that was driving in the opposite direction with five occupants. As a result, Manyova, who was one of the passengers, died at the scene.

“Komphela (65) was sentenced to three years which is wholly suspended. Komphela was driving from the direction of Theunissen to Bloemfontein on 6 January 2019 when his BMW veered to the right, crossing the two barrier lines, and collided with the Volkswagen Polo that was driving in the opposite direction with five occupants. The Polo rolled several times and Manyova, who was one of the passengers, died at the scene. Other occupants suffered minor injuries,” he adds.

Shuping says Komphela later, after the accident, claimed that the VW Polo drove into his lane and the sun made it impossible for him to see it.

“However, State Prosecutor Mpoti Chalale told the court that it is impossible that the driver of the Polo could be wrong because according to an accident scene expert, the Polo sustained no front corner impact damage which confirmed that the BMW drove into the VW,” he further adds.

During arguments in court, the state told the court that “according to the accident scene expert, the contributing cause to the accident can only be a human error because the vehicle did not have a mechanical fault and the road was in a good condition and it was Mr Komphela who was driving at the speed of about 150km per hour in an 80km zone when he swerved into oncoming traffic.

Chalele throw a book at Komphela and said he is a former MEC who was responsible for roads in the province and he knows that the specific road is a high-accident zone. There is no way the sun could have made it impossible for him to see other vehicles because the accident happened at around 14h00.

Komphela was sentenced to three years imprisonment, wholly suspended for a period of five years on the condition that he is not again found guilty of a similar offence during the period of suspension.

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