The case against Duduzane Zuma will continue.
This is what magistrate Tebogo Thupaatlase ruled on Friday
morning in Zuma's application to have a case of culpable homicide and one of
negligent driving thrown out in the Randburg magistrate's court in
Johannesburg.
Thupaatlase said a case could be discharged if the evidence
was "poor"‚ but ruled this was not the case here.
Zuma's lawyer Mike Hellens had filed an application on
Wednesday to have the case thrown out after state prosecutor Yusuf Baba
finished up the state's case.
Hellens argued on Wednesday there is no evidence to show
Zuma was driving recklessly in his Porsche 911 Turbo causing a deadly road
accident on February 1 2014.
He said the four-wheel-drive crashed because of aquaplaning
- that‚ basically‚ he lost control of the vehicle because of water on the
surface of the road.
Baba argued on Wednesday that Zuma’s culpability lies not
in his car sliding after hitting a puddle of water‚ but not doing enough
beforehand to drive safer.
“At the end of the day‚ that human being behind the
steering wheel is in control of how he behaves on the road.”
Hellens hit back: “What they (the state) haven’t
established is at what point in time was Mr Zuma‚ as a reasonable driver‚
expected to foresee that there will be a puddle on a national highway. This is
not some country road. On a national highway of such significance that driving
around 90 to 100km/h‚ so the experts tell us‚ he would lose control of his
vehicle. Where is that in the state’s case? It’s nowhere.”
Another charge of culpable homicide was dropped on Tuesday.
Minibus taxi passengers Phumzile Dube and Jeanette Mashaba
died following after Zuma’s Porsche crashed into a minibus taxi on the M1 south
near the Grayston turnoff.
Baba said on Tuesday the state had consulted with a
pathologist and Mashaba’s death was a result of a pre-existing condition and
was not linked to the accident. She died in four months later at home.
Zuma pleaded not guilty on Tuesday. He said in a statement‚
read out by Hellens‚ that he lost control of his car after driving through a
pool of water which he did not see due to the poor visibility from the rain.
Porsche announced in January 2019 that it will introduce a
wet mode system into its 911 models which “includes a function for detecting
significant wet road conditions and a corresponding vehicle set-up for
increased driving stability on wet road surfaces”. Sowetan
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