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Cape Town - The latest chapter in the Burry Stander accident trial saga - Magistrate Charmaine Barnard handing down her judgment on taxi driver Njabulo Nyawose in the Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court on Friday - was the most stressful and emotionally taxing yet for the Stander family.
According to the eHowzit website, the late South African mountain biking icon’s mother Mandie and brother Duane attended the hearing, which came over two years after Burry’s death when he was struck by Nyawose’s Quantum minibus taxi during a training ride just outside of the family’s cycling store in Shelly Beach on January 3, 2013.
Magistrate Charmaine Barnard found Nyawose guilty of culpable homicide and failing to adhere to road signs and set sentencing for May 27.
It was another traumatic court visit for both members of the Stander family, one Mandie said had only the slimmest of silver linings.
“Every time I stepped into Court C at the Port Shepstone regional court rooms, I was sad and upset and Friday was no different,” a heart-broken Mandie said.
“Nothing is ever going to bring my Angel child back, but I feel at peace knowing that Burry did nothing wrong to play a part in his tragic death.”
The defence had disputed the veracity of the information gleaned from the Garmin device that was attached to Burry’s bike.
Defence attorney Xolile Ntsulana had argued the findings of forensic expert Craig Parker-Procter – that Stander had not exceeded the maximum speed of 45km/h – and had claimed the main cause of the accident was the speed at which the two-time Olympian was travelling.
“The speed Burry was travelling at when the accident happened was 23km/h,” said Mandie.
“The CCTV footage showed he was already sitting up like anyone slowing down on a road bike would.
“I’m positive he was planning to go and have a chat with his dad at the shop before going home.”
