Be careful what you put out there

The first stories told of an 18-wheeler truck that had lost control on this infamous stretch of KwaZulu road ploughing into four minibus taxis and a car.

We then heard the driver was 23-year-old Sanele Goodness May from Swaziland and for many the sight of him sitting devastated in court drew mixed feelings. What many were saying was how could such a young man be allowed the responsibility of this vehicle? Was the vehicle roadworthy? Basically people wanted to know just what happened.

The next day the owner of the lorry Gregory Govender expressed his condolences to the families of the dead, saying he didn't know what happened, and as he'd been unable to speak to the driver would have to wait for the investigation to find out.

What happened was that the truck's brakes failed and what has also transpired is that the driver's credentials for the job were in fact false and he should never have been driving such a vehicle.

Once these details emerged, instead of coming on radio, TV and talking to the print media, he appointed a spokesperson - a public relations company and called a press conference. Something that immediately raised the hackles of the press.

Yesterday, through his spokesperson he issued a statement saying how he has not been able to sleep nor function productively as he was haunted by the images described in the media. He added he feared for his life and that of his family.

So did this have the desired effect of getting the public 'on his side'? Ironically the public's support appears firmly on the side of the driver, who according to EWN's report is "receiving an enormous amount of support from South Africans on social networking sites with calls for the owner of the truck to also be charged".

How NOT to handle it

For me this whole scenario was reminiscent of the BP oil spill, when their CEO Tony Hayward stood up and told the world, just days after the event, that he wanted his life back... Well, he got it back quicker than he was expecting when he was fired shortly after.

So this brings me to the issue, not for the first time in this column, of how should such a crisis situation be handled?

There's only one way:
• TELL THE TRUTH
• TELL IT ALL
• TELL IT FAST

Don't:
• ACT AS IF YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S BEEN MISTREATED
• HIDE BEHIND A PUBLIC RELATIONS PERSON OR WORSE, A LAWYER
• TRY AND SPIN THE STORY TO SUIT YOUSELF

The spokesperson was quick to point out that her client had never had such a thing happen before; that this was the first time a truck licence was out of date; didn't understand how this man could have been hired - and the list goes on.

It will be interesting in the coming days to see how this story unfolds and whether in fact he will have to take accountability for these deaths.