THE MERCURY
Cars travel along the N3 under the Candella Road bridge where Siphesihle Zola Zuma died after a concrete block came crashing through the windscreen of the car in which she was travelling. Picture: Zanele Zulu
Durban – In one of the first convictions of its kind for KwaZulu-Natal, three young rock throwers, who heaved a concrete slab off the Candella Road bridge that caused the death of a Durban woman, were found guilty of murder on Thursday.
They were charged with the November 2010 death of Siphesihle Zola Zuma, who died when the slab thrown from the bridge on to the N3 freeway struck the vehicle she was in.
The slab smashed through the windscreen and hit Zuma in the face and chest. She suffered extensive injuries and died in hospital the next day.
Lucky Leon Khumalo, Brandon Phillip, both 18, and a 16-year-old hung their heads and appeared disbelieving when the verdict was handed down by magistrate Thomas Nhleko in the Durban Regional Court.
Khumalo’s mother, who did not want to give her first name to the media, said she was shocked by the judgment and how “strict” the magistrate had been.
“They were young boys and they were playing, they never meant for any of this. Our lives have been on hold for the past three years. We do not know what is going to happen.”
Zuma’s family, who had been attending the trial, were not in court.
Nhleko found the three had acted in common purpose and had gone ahead with throwing rocks from the bridge even though they foresaw that it could lead to an accident and death.
The key to the conviction was the evidence of State witness Navine Nagdutt, who testified that he had heard screeching tyres and hooting. He had then looked out of his window, seen the youths throwing rocks from the bridge, and shouted at them.
Nagdutt told his neighbour, Metro policewoman Faith Ngema, what he had seen and they both chased after the men.
Nhleko said Nagdutt had been “honest and credible” and his evidence had not been seriously challenged by the defence.
He said the teenagers had been poor witnesses and had contradicted each other.
“Accused one (Khumalo) and accused two (Phillip) shifted all the blame on accused three, who is the youngest. Both denied that they had been throwing stones and pieces of concrete slab from the bridge. Accused three’s evidence was largely corroborated by Nagdutt as he said they all threw stones but said he did not throw the slab because it was too heavy to carry.”
He added that it was not important who had thrown the slab at the car.
“The State has proved beyond a reasonable doubt that all three were on the bridge, all threw stones on the freeway and the concrete slab was pushed from the bridge. All acted voluntarily and were fully aware of the unlawfulness of their actions.”
Nhleko said despite being minors at the time, all three had testified that they had foreseen that throwing concrete and stones from the bridge might cause an accident and death.
“The evidence of the screeching tyres and the hooting gave the accused warning that danger was being caused by their actions, but they continued throwing stones, they finally threw a slab.”
The case was adjourned until June for pre-sentencing reports to be prepared, and the trio were released on warning.
kamini.padayachee@inl.co.za
The Mercury
