A President’s son is facing a prolonged stay in jail after rear-ending a minivan killing two women.
In the highway accident, former south Africa President Jacob Zuma’s son hit the van killing one woman on the spot and fatally injuring another who succumbed to her injuries in a hospital.
How it happened
Cruising in a Porsche sports car, Duduzane Zuma, 35, crashed into a minivan taxi on a highway near Sandton in Johannesburg in February 2014.
The court’s decision on Friday brings to a protracted pre-trial period during which Zuma’s defense lawyers have tried to prevent the case from coming to court.
Avoided prosecution
Duduzane initially avoided prosecution after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) decided in 2015 not to charge him.
However, the NPA reversed its decision last year after a rights group threatened to privately prosecute Zuma.
“This court concludes that there is evidence that a court acting reasonably can convict,” said Magistrate Tebogo Thupaatlase.
Duduzane was present at Friday’s hearing. He pleaded not guilty to the charges of culpable homicide and negligent driving on Tuesday.
He was charged last year with two counts of culpable homicide – South Africa’s equivalent of manslaughter -and one count of negligent driving in the accident.
Prosecutors later withdrew one count of culpable homicide because the second woman’s death was linked to natural causes, not the accident.
The trial is expected to begin in May.