Musician Chillmaster Reviewed Judgment: Another lighter Nine-Months Driving Ban After Fatal Crash  Handed

By Staff Reporter 

Musician Kudakwashe Hombarume, known as Chillmaster, has been barred from driving for nine months after the High Court overturned a magistrate’s ruling that had spared him a custodial sentence despite a fatal road accident. 

The 24-year-old, who was unlicensed at the time, admitted driving at 100 km/h in a 60 km/h zone when his Honda Shuttle struck and killed 46-year-old Custon Charumbira in April. 

Mbare magistrate Tatenda Mukurunge had initially sentenced him to community service after he compensated the victim’s family and covered funeral expenses. However, the High Court criticised the decision as “outrageous.” 

Justice Mary Zimba Dube ruled that the case involved gross negligence rather than ordinary negligence. She warned that allowing offenders to avoid jail by paying compensation undermines justice, particularly against the backdrop of rising road fatalities. 

“The aggravating features of this case do not justify community service,” she said. “Community service imposed in circumstances such as these has the effect of trivialising the offence of culpable homicide arising from road traffic accidents.” 

The case was sent back to the magistrate’s court, which imposed the driving ban as the minimum sanction required by the High Court.