FAMILY and friends of the late Olympic cyclist Burry Stander gathered at the Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, August 21, to hear the latest in the case against taxi driver Njabulo Nyawose (25).
Mr Nyawose, from Gamalakhe, faces charges of culpable homicide, as well as several alternative charges related to the driving of a motor vehicle. Stander was killed in an accident involving the taxi driven by Mr Nyawose in January this year.
Dressed in jeans and a green jersey, Mr Nyawose left court shortly after hearing that the case had been postponed to October 21 and 22 for trial. He is currently out on a warning.
Last month, the charges were provisionally withdrawn when the Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court refused to grant the State another adjournment to wait for a decision from the director of public prosecutions on whether or not to prosecute Mr Nyawose. The charges were subsequently reinstated.
Speaking to the media afterwards, a tearful Mandie Stander (Burry’s mother) said the family was ‘not coping’ and ‘devastated’ but took some comfort from the fact that a trial date had been set.
“We would have liked to have avoided coming to court but we realised that if we wanted to see justice being served we would have to get through this and be here,” said Mrs Stander.
She added that she was hoping for a fair trial and for justice to be served. “We are taking it day by day. People say time heals but it does not. Burry was a very important part of our lives,” she said.
Mrs Stander also called on senior authorities to meet with her to discuss a plan to make the roads safer for cyclists, runners and pedestrians.
“If I can spare one family from the heartache, I would feel I have done something positive in Burry’s name,” she said.
