Blue light driver denied postponement
2014-09-29 13:19
Johannesburg -
The Krugersdorp Magistrate's Court on Monday declined to postpone sentencing
proceedings of blue light driver Joseph MotsamaiSemitjie, who knocked over
teenager Thomas Ferreira.
"I cannot
continue granting the accused further indulgences," Magistrate Abdul Khan
said.
"This
matter has to come to an end."
Semitjie's
lawyers had asked for another postponement as their witness, a police colonel,
was in the Eastern Cape.
The State opposed the move
and said the same witness had failed to appear in court on numerous occasions.
Khan said the
matter had been postponed several times already.
"What is
the chance that the witness will come to court?" he asked.
Dressed in a
blue and grey tracksuit, Semitjie sat in the dock and listened as Khan turned down
the request.
Semitjie,
the former driver of then Gauteng housing MEC Humphrey Mmemezi,
was convicted of reckless and negligent driving on 3 December.
He was driving
Mmemezi to a meeting when he crashed into Ferreira, who was on a motorbike, in
November 2011.
Ferreira, who
was 18 at the time, suffered head injuries and was comatose for weeks. During
the trial, the court heard that Semitjie was driving on the left side of the
yellow line, had not switched on his siren, and had gone through a red traffic
light.
- SAPA
