Man banned from driving donkey-drawn cart

Man banned from driving donkey-drawn cart

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By Staff Reporter

A ZIMBABWEAN man has been banned from driving any donkey-drawn cart for two years after pleading guilty to two counts of culpable homicide over a smash involving his cart and a goods train which killed two of his passengers.

Zwelibanzi Famana, 19, from Mpumalanda village in the Mbembesi area, about 60km east of Bulawayo, was accused of negligent handling of his two-wheeled vehicle when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Phathekile Sibanda on Friday last week.

The magistrate sentenced Famana to 18 months in prison of which half was conditionally suspended for five years. The remaining nine months were suspended on condition that he performs 315 hours of community service at Mbembesi Police Station.

Prosecuting, Charles Mupatsi told the court that on March 16 this year, Famana was in command of a donkey-drawn cart along an unnamed road in Mbembesi. He had five passengers on board.

On approaching a rail/road level crossing at the 113 km-peg along the Bulawayo/Gweru highway, he failed to give way to an on-coming goods train which was sounding its horn.

The goods train rammed into the cart, killing a three-year-old boy instantly. The boy’s mother died two days later from the injuries she sustained at Bulawayo’s Mpilo Central Hospital.

The particulars of negligence are that Famana failed to keep a proper look-out and failed to stop or act reasonably when an accident seemed imminent.

Donkey-drawn carts are now a popular mode of transport in rural Zimbabwe due to fuel shortages which have forced many transport operators to suspend country routes.
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