A taxi driver accused of the murder of a 16-year-old schoolgirl must be found guilty, the Pretoria Regional Court heard on Monday.
State prosecutor Sanet van Rensburg told the court that Percyval Matji did not act reasonably when he allegedly hit and drove over Bernadine Kruger while she was riding a scooter to school in February this year.
”The accused drives straight into the motorbike without slowing down. He hoped the motorbike would get out of his way,” Van Rensburg argued in court.
”When she did not move fast, the accused applied pressure on her by repeatedly hooting”.
Van Rensburg said a reasonable person would have applied brakes to allow the scooter to move to another lane.
”A reasonable person would not have maintained the speed as this shortens the distance”.
Van Rensburg said a reasonable person would also have attempted to swerve to avoid a collision.
Defence lawyer, advocate Rendani Mufamadi, argued there was no evidence to prove that Matji had intended to kill Kruger.
He told the court state witnesses wanted Matji to be punished and in a bid to believe them, they exaggerated their testimony.
”They wanted the accused to be punished for no apparent reason, they created a picture that he was driving at high speed,” said Mufamadi.
He argued it was impossible for one state witness, Simon Martins, to see the speed at which the taxi was travelling because he was seated behind the driver.
Martins had told the court the taxi was travelling at 100km/h while Matji said his maximum speed on that morning was 65km/h.
Mufamadi also accused the state of calling only white witnesses to testify, saying no black people who were passengers in the taxi were called to testify.
The investigating officer was not called to court to explain whether he attempted to get hold of other people in the taxi, he said.
In counter argument, Van Rensburg said black witnesses who wanted to testify were intimidated.
”The accused had ample time to ask those people to testify for him if he feared a white ambush,” she said, explaining that after the accident Matji continued to see some of the passengers who were in the taxi.
Mufamadi accused the state of not mentioning in detail that the scooter was not registered and that Kruger did not have a driver’s licence.
”There is a presumption that she was not properly trained, in other words, she contributed to the accident,” he said.
The case was postponed to Friday.
Matji, of Mamelodi, is charged with killing Kruger in Garsfontein, east of Pretoria, while she was riding a scooter to school in February this year. — Sapa