GWANDA — An international heavy duty truck driver was on Wednesday convicted and fined $200 for culpable homicide after he ran over a seven-year-old boy and crushed him to death in June this year.Report by Our Staff Reporter Samuel Mpofu (40) of Nkulumane in Bulawayo, who is employed by Colbro Shelfield at Belmont in the city, however, pleaded not guilty to culpable homicide when he appeared before Gwanda magistrate Shillah Nazombe.
The magistrate convicted and fined him $200 or 40 days in jail. She also ordered him to surrender his driving licence to the clerk of court for endorsement.
Mpofu ran over seven-year-old Zenzo Siziba on June 8 this year at 5.05pm while driving an international truck on the 196km peg along the Masvingo-Mbalabala road towards Bulawayo at high speed.
In denying the charge, Mpofu told the court that he drove past the child who was walking on the side of the road with other children and a grown up woman.
Mpofu said he thought the woman had the boy under control. He said after having passed them, he checked the rear view mirror and saw the boy running towards his truck and it was too late to avoid the accident. Consequently, Zenzo was run over by the truck’s trailer.
