Mbabane – About 25 kombi drivers landed in trouble after appearing before the Mbabane Magistrate’s Court for endangering the lives of passengers through overloading. The drivers were charged with contravening Section 27 (1) as read with Section 32 (1) (c) of the Road Transportation Act of 2007.
The matter was heard by Senior Magistrate Sifiso Vilakati, who strongly condemned the drivers’ actions, stating that such reckless behavior puts passengers at serious risk of accidents. “This is a norm and you are exposing your passengers to danger,” said the magistrate in his ruling.
During mitigation, some of the kombi drivers pleaded for leniency, claiming they were acting out of compassion by transporting school children who had been left stranded after their school buses, commonly referred to as “bomalume babo”, stopped operating following the closure of most schools.
Despite their explanations, Magistrate Vilakati emphasized the importance of road safety and issued each driver a fine of E500 or five months’ imprisonment in default.
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