Hip-hop star Molemo “Jub Jub” Maarohanye’s lawyer, Ike Motloung, on Monday said his client was not involved in drag racing when his car and that of co-accused Themba Tshabalala collided with schoolchildren in Soweto.
While cross-examining the state’s first witness, accident investigator Penelope Charmaine Shivambu in the Protea Magistrate’s Court, Motloung disputed allegations that Maarohanye was driving on the wrong side of the road shortly before the accident.
“I put it to you that my client was driving in the left-hand lane and the blue Mini Cooper [driven by Tshabalala] clipped the back of my client’s car causing it to lose control,” he said.
Shivambu disputed this, saying that skid marks on the road and scratches on the rims of both cars gave a different impression.
She insisted Maarohanye had been driving in the right-hand lane and veered into the left lane to try to avoid an oncoming car. She said although witnesses at the scene told her that the two cars collided before losing control, markings on both cars told a different story.
She maintained that evidence showed the two cars did not collide, but lost control when they hit the pavement.
Eyewitnesses, Shivambu said, claimed the two cars were driving parallel to each other at a high speed. This, she said, was the reason given by witnesses to support claims the two cars had been racing.
Not guilty plea
Maarohanye has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges levelled against him.
Both he and Tshabalala face four murder charges following the accident in March this year in which four schoolchildren were killed and two others critically injured.
Their Mini Coopers veered off a road in Soweto and crashed into a group of schoolchildren, allegedly while they were drag racing, and allegedly while they were under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
The two face four counts of murder with alternate charges of culpable homicide, two counts of attempted murder with an alternate charge of reckless or negligent driving, use of drugs — mainly cocaine and morphine — and driving while under the influence of drugs. They are also charged with failure to ascertain the extent of injuries caused by the accident.
Motloung told the court his client denies he intended to kill or attempted to kill anyone. He also denies having driven recklessly, taking drugs or participating in drag racing.
The trial continues. — Sapa