Court sees photos of Mandela crash car
Sizwe Mankazana, accused of causing Nelson Mandela's great granddaughter Zenani Mandela's death, leaves the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court, Wednesday, 24 November 2010.The case was postponed to January 28. Mankazana was originally facing a drunken driving charge and a culpable homicide charge, but the latter was later converted to murder. He was driving the car when it overturned and killed 13-year-old Zenani Mandela on their way back from a Soccer World Cup concert. Picture: Werner Beukes/SAPA Sizwe Mankazana, accused of causing Nelson Mandela's great granddaughter Zenani Mandela's death, leaves the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court, Wednesday, 24 November 2010.The case was postponed to January 28. Mankazana was originally facing a drunken driving charge and a culpable homicide charge, but the latter was later converted to murder. He was driving the car when it overturned and killed 13-year-old Zenani Mandela on their way back from a Soccer World Cup concert. Picture: Werner Beukes/SAPA
A photograph showing how a roadside barrier penetrated the car in which 13-year-old Zenani Mandela died was submitted to the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on Thursday.
For the first time, the court was able to see how the steel barrier ripped into the Mercedes-Benz, and dragged like a tail behind the car as it careened across the M1, hit a lamppost and came to a standstill.
Sizwe Mankazana, 25, who was driving the car, is on trial for his part in the death of Nelson Mandela's great-grandchild on the eve of the Soccer World Cup in September 2010.
He faces charges of culpable homicide, negligent or reckless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. He has pleaded not guilty.
At the time of the accident he was 23. His family were friends of the Mandelas.
Kenny Oldwage, appearing for the defence, said roadside barriers were designed to absorb the force of impact in a car accident and deflect “any offending object.”
“An open section of barrier should never be allowed to face oncoming traffic,” he said.
The court heard on Monday that accident investigator Henry Muller stopped at the site of the accident earlier in the day to tie back a piece of damaged barrier protruding into the road. He used an electric cable.
According to Muller, that section of damaged barrier was what penetrated the right rear of the car, possibly causing the death of the child, who was sleeping on the back seat.
However, Muller failed to mention the barrier in his accident report and Oldwage asked him if he had been instructed to change his report or leave out details.
Muller replied that he had been put under pressure to complete the report the same night Ä a job that would normally have taken two to three days.
“The lesson I have learned from this is that nobody will rush me ever again. That is why 1/8information about 3/8 that portion 1/8of barrier 3/8 is not in the report.”
He had raised the matter with a second accident investigator later that night when he visited the scene of the crash again.
He had also told the State advocates about the barrier in his meeting with them.
The accident happened at 11.35pm on September 10, 2010.
On Thursday, Oldwage said there were vagrants in the area, implying that the cable could have been removed between the time Muller tied the barrier back and the fatal crash later that night.
Winnie Mandela, Zenani's great-grandmother, her grandmother Zindzi, her great aunt Zenani and her mother Zoleka were all in court.
Zoleka became emotional when the photograph of the crashed car with the barrier lodged at the back was shown on a screen and the questioning focused on Zenani's death.
Zenani sen. comforted her, sitting close to her for the rest of the afternoon. - Sapa