Pretoria - Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele has welcomed the sentence imposed on mini-bus taxi driver Jacob Humphreys.
Humphreys, who was convicted for killing 10 children and the attempted murder of four, was today sentenced to an effective 20 year jail term by the Western Cape High Court. His driver's licence was cancelled with immediate effect.
Humphreys' conviction follows an accident in August 2010, where he was driving a taxi full of children to school and overtook a row of cars waiting at the Buttskop railway crossing, ignoring a lowered boom. The taxi was hit by an oncoming train, killing 10 children.
"We welcome this sentence and hope that it will serve as a deterrent to other motorists, we want 2012 to be the year of action for safer roads and those who are turning our roads into killing fields must be isolated and exposed for their deeds are not only a danger to themselves, but pose a real threat to the sustainability of society," Ndebele said.
He added that together with the Ministries of Justice and Police, as well as the National Prosecuting Authority, his department will continue to go all out to ensure that dangerous drivers are removed from the roads.
"As government, we want to make it very clear that we remain steadfast in our resolve to bring down the fatality rate on our roads, the reduction in road deaths is not just desirable, it is an urgent non-negotiable and has become our daily mission, which has called upon world leaders to work together during this Decade of Action for road safety and to share solutions to this challenge," Ndebele said.
Through the National Rolling Enforcement Plan, Ndebele said they will continue stopping and checking no less than a million vehicles and drivers every month, as well as aggressively pursue dangerous drivers who drink and drive, drive recklessly or drive inconsiderately.
