Fields Hill death truck owner in court
Gregory Govender, the owner of the truck that caused an accident on Fields Hill and killed 24 people. Picture: Zanele Zulu Gregory Govender, the owner of the truck that caused an accident on Fields Hill and killed 24 people. Picture: Zanele Zulu
Durban – Gregory Govender, the owner of an articulated lorry that in 2013 ploughed down Durban’s Fields Hill killing 24 people, made a brief appearance in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
The case against Govender was postponed to February 24, when a date for him to appear in the Regional Court is expected to be set down.
Govender faces three charges related to the National Traffic Act and a separate charge for employing an illegal immigrant.
On the evening of September 5, 2013, a truck belonging to Govender’s company Sagekal and driven by Swazi national Sanele Goodness May careered down the M13 and crashed into four taxis and two cars at the bottom of Fields Hill.
May, who had entered the country illegally and without a work permit, was convicted of 24 counts of culpable homicide after pleading guilty.
In November 2014, May was sentenced to eight years imprisonment. During his initial bail hearing it emerged that the lorry that May was driving was not roadworthy. Verulam is north of Durban, near King Shaka International Airport.