KNYSNA NEWS - The family of late Plettonian Alan Smit, who was tragically killed outside Knysna in an act of road rage on 23 March 2019, has welcomed the sentencing of his killer, Leon van Rooyen.

The sentencing took place in the Knysna Magistrate's Court last Monday, 4 April, five weeks after Van Rooyen was found guilty of culpable homicide by Magistrate E Jacobs in the Knysna court on 22 February. 

After the judgement was passed, the case was postponed to allow for the collection of pre-sentencing documents.

Van Rooyen finally received his sentence three years and 12 days after Smit was killed. Van Rooyen was sentenced to three years in jail, with an additional three-year sentence that is suspended over a period of five years, beginning from the day he was sentenced. 

"This means that the accused must not be arrested and convicted for the same offence over the period of five years from the day he was sentenced," said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.

"Even though a lot of our support system may not understand it, considering the minimum sentence was house arrest and it's what was being pushed for, there are no words to begin to give an explanation as to the relief felt when Leon [van Rooyen] was guided to a completely different door than what he was used to, " said Smit's sister, Jamie-Lee Bulterman.

"Our healing can now begin and we can now try to navigate on how to go about life without a missing key link. No sentence for Alan's life, his wife and especially children, will ever do justification. We have fought and it has finally paid off."

The incident

The incident in which Smit was killed took place on the N2 outside Knysna, while both parties were travelling from Sedgefield towards Knysna. 

Van Rooyen allegedly attempted to overtake Smit and his passenger more than once, Jacobs explained in the handing down of her judgement on 22 February. 

According to Jacobs, Van Rooyen conceded in court that he had overtaken Smit on a double barrier line.

Both parties' vehicles eventually came to a halt on the N2, and according to Jacobs both parties were "evidently agitated" at the time. 

"The accused could have easily avoided the situation and reported the matter to the police if he indeed feared for his life as he claims. 

Instead, he expected confrontation and stopped his vehicle," Jacobs said.

The court heard that Van Rooyen stayed inside his vehicle with the door on his side opened, while Smit disembarked his vehicle. 

During the incident Smit was allegedly knocked to the ground by the open driver's door before Van Rooyen drove over Smit, causing fractures to his skull. 

Smit succumbed to his injuries a day later. 

Van Rooyen fled the scene and did not report the incident to the police.