A PROMINENT 49-year-old Northern Province businessman was sentenced to 15 years jail on Monday after gunning down a man who accidentally crashed into his luxury car. Madala Silence Siwele shot Josiah Mohala twice in the chest and head seconds after the accident while in an apparent rage at his injuries and about the damage to his vehicle. Siwele, who still uses crutches one year after the accident on August 7 last year, pleaded not guilty to murder charges and told the court he assumed the accident was part of a hijacking and merely acted in self-defence. “I have been hijacked before after they rammed my car and thought this was a repeat incident,” said Siwele. State witnesses testified, however, that Siwele gunned Mohala down in cold-blood when he came to apologise for the accident and to offer medical assistance. A visibly shocked Siwele was led crying to prison after the surprise sentencing at the Nelspruit Regional Court on Monday. Magistrate Albertus Le Roux said: “I have carefully considered your circumstances, but I have decided to impose an appropriate jail term in light of the growing number of road rage cases coming before courts”. – African Eye News Service