Zuma’s version could be plausible - forensic engineer

On Thursday morning former president Jacob Zuma’s son appeared at the Randburg Magistrates’ Court to continue with his testimony into the charge of culpable homicide against him, following his 2014 crash in Sandton when his Porsche 911 Turbo crashed into a minibus taxi. The crash resulted in the deaths of Phumzile Dube, who died immediately, and Jeanette Mashaba, who died a few weeks later. Initially, Zuma had two cases of culpable homicide against his name, but the second charge was dropped after it was established that Mashaba had passed away due to a pre-existing medical condition. He has pleaded not guilty.

On Thursday, state prosecutor Yusuf Baba raised questions against the discrepancies of the speeds which were given to the insurance assessor and what he had told the police. Zuma had told the assessor he was travelling at 70km/h but had told the police that he was travelling at 90km/h. Zuma said that he was asked to give an estimate and that’s what he told the assessor. He said the accident was unavoidable given the rainy conditions that night and the poor visibility.

Forensic engineer Konrad Lotter, who is an accident reconstruction expert and has been called by the state to provide his expert analysis, said that Zuma’s accounts of what happened that night could be plausible. The main defence which was argued was that Zuma had lost control of his Porsche due to aquaplaining, and that according to Lotter, Zuma did not have to be driving at an excessive speed in order for aquaplaining to have occurred. Lotter also indicated that both vehicles were travelling at a similar speed based on the distance both vehicles had landed after the collision took place.

An eyewitness, Michael Jankelowitz, who also took to the stand, affirmed Zuma’s claim that visibility was poor that night after driving past the scene of the crash. He also said that as a car fanatic, he noticed Zuma’s Porsche pass him on the M1 before the crash took place that night and that the speed at which Zuma was driving was not excessive. As Jankelowitz approached the crash scene, he noticed Zuma’s car had spun and that the taxi had passengers exiting the vehicle, but that he didn’t realise how serious the crash was as it didn’t appear to be fatal. On Wednesday, Zuma told the court that he had taken responsibility for what had happened.

The matter was postponed till June 20 for closing arguments.