May to spend Christmas behind bars

SANELE May’s hopes of spending Christmas and his birthday with his loved ones were dashed when his court case was adjourned until 25 February 2014 in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court.

This time, many of Sanele May’s supporters were absent from the courtroom as he did not physically appear in court, but remained in custody and witnessed the proceedings via a live audio visual feed.

Sanele May faces 24 counts of murder after the truck he was driving ploughed through five vehicles at the Field’s Hill Old Main Road off-ramp on Thursday 5 September. Twenty two people died at the scene while two others died later in hospital.

According to prosecutor, Sibongiseni Mthethwa, both legal representations had come to an agreement to postpone the court case for investigation. He said that the Gale Street Mortuary was currently experiencing problems as some of the deceased are still unnamed and post-mortem reports are outstanding.

Magistrate Chris Annamalai reprimanded the investigating officer, Sanjeev Singh, for the slow movement of the case and told him to move the case along as it was not “fair” on the defendants.

He ordered that Sanele May remain in custody until his next court appearance, Tuesday 25 February, since his previous bail application was denied.

Sanele May’s attorney, Professor Mdletshe, said they were planning to apply for bail again and that plans were in motion to move the case to the regional court.