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X5 deaths: Zulu prince in jail

Johannesburg - Durban businessman and self-proclaimed Zulu prince Sifiso Zulu's three-year jail term for culpable homicide will be an important lesson to other drivers.

kwaZulu-Natal Transport MEC Willies Mchunu said on Sunday: "We welcome Zulu's imprisonment. This is clear evidence that our courts are now taking seriously cases relating to transgressions of the road regulations. One can only hope that the finalisation of this long-dragging case will bring closure to families of the victims."

X5 JUMPED LIGHTS

Zulu, 42, the former head of the Durban Chamber of Commerce, was convicted in April 2010. On Saturday he went to Westville prison to start his three-year term after the Pietermaritzburg High Court last week dismissed his appeal against conviction and sentence for a 2008 road incident.

The court found that in March 2008 Zulu, driving a BMW X5, jumped a red traffic light and collided with a bakkie, killing two members of the Souls Harbour Church and injuring eight more. He was sentenced to five years' jail, two of which were suspended, and fined R7000 for various driving offences.

Mchunu emphasised: "We hope this case will be a lesson to all motorists to respect the rule of law."

Through the years since the crash, paramedics have claimed more people would have died had it not been for prompt medical assistance, Zulu lied by saying somebody else was driving his car and frequently failed to appear or appeared late in court. There was also an early association with now suspended police commissioner Bheki Cele.

Read the whole sorry saga of this man who wouldn't face up to his crime.
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