Alberton driver was acquitted of culpable homicide

Johannesburg - The truck driver accused of causing the death of three people in a crash involving 48 vehicles in Alberton, will hear next week to hear if he is granted bail.

Isaac Wade Maruding's bail application was heard in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.

Magistrate Samuel Hlubi will deliver his ruling on 27 October.

H was acquitted of culpable homicide in 1996 and found guilty of reckless or negligent driving instead, Warrant Officer Joas Phokungwane testified in his bail application.

He was handed a suspended 18-month jail sentence.

A few years later Maruding was convicted of culpable homicide on a separate matter. This caused his suspended 18-month sentence to come into effect and he was jailed. His driver's licence was endorsed for a year.

Phokungwane told the court Maruding fled the scene of the accident on the N12 East in Alberton on the morning of 14 October.

Police had to contact his employer to find him. Maruding, a married father of two, was arrested in Potchefstroom.

He and his family live in Viljoenskroon in the Free State.

He faces three charges of culpable homicide and one charge of reckless or negligent driving.

"He was not at the scene and there was no record that he was taken to hospital," he said.

Phokungwane said it would not be in the interests of justice to release Maruding on bail.

Referring to the accident report, Phokungwane said the 48 vehicles involved in the crash had been stationary.

"There was a traffic jam," he said.