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No bail for soccer crash driver

'When he was arrested he gave police a wrong name'

The driver of a bakkie which collided with a minibus taxi, killing four soccer players, was denied bail on Tuesday, Limpopo police said.

Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said Mahlodi James Machete, 36, appeared in the Mankweng Magistrate’s Court and would remain in custody until his next appearance on November 21.

“He is facing charges of culpable homicide and drunken driving.” 

Machete was treated for minor injuries after the crash before being arrested for drunken and reckless or negligent driving.

When he was arrested he gave police a wrong name, calling himself Sammy Maepa.

Four soccer players were killed when the bakkie hit the side of their minibus on the R71, near Polokwane, on Sunday night. The taxi landed on its side in the path of oncoming traffic, where a bus carrying Zion Christian Church members crashed into it.

The players were members of the Polokwane City football club and had been travelling from Oscar Mphetha stadium, where they had played a National First Division match against FC AK.

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