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DJ held after 'test drive'
08/05/2008 08:11 - (SA)
Gcina Ntsaluba
Nelspruit - High-flying Mpumalanga DJ Mpho Madise was released from police custody on his own recognisances on Tuesday evening after he was nabbed on charges of absconding with a luxury Volvo S40 sedan.
Madise, who works on MPower FM as DJ Mo G, is accused of stealing the vehicle from Volvo Nelspruit after telling them he was taking it for a "test drive".
The vehicle had reportedly travelled 3 600km when it was recovered by police four days later.
Madise was arrested on Tuesday morning after a nationwide police hunt, and was not asked to plead when he appeared briefly in Nelspruit Magistrate's Court that evening.
His case was postponed to May 28 to allow for further police investigation.
Inspector Dawie Pretorius, confirmed the arrests and prosecution, but declined to otherwise comment on the case.
Has been taken off air
"We still don't have the full investigation dockets, and cannot therefore discuss anything yet," he said.
MPower FM also declined to comment before a scheduled meeting with Madise on Wednesday evening, where the party-loving DJ will be given an opportunity to explain himself.
"It would be unfair of us to pre-empt the meeting this evening by commenting now," said MPower FM general manager Bondo Ntuli.
Ntuli confirmed, however, that Madise had been taken off air and would remain so until the matter had been resolved.
He refused to be drawn on whether Madise would be suspended, whether he had taken unfair advantage of his status as a media personality to gain access to the vehicle, or whether the station was aware of any other disciplinary concerns around Madise.
MPower FM, ironically, is running a promotion with Volvo Nelspruit's dealership, AutoTec, encouraging the public to test drive the S40 sedan.
While Ntuli met with Madise, the station sent out hundreds of SMS text messages to local residents encouraging them to take up the offer.
AutoTec consistently refused to comment on either Madise's arrest or its impact on the MPower FM promotion this week.
Madise joined MPower FM a month ago, having previously worked for 5FM, Highveld Stereo, and Radio 2000, all in Johannesburg.
When he joined 5FM in 2000, he told journalists that his life philosophy was to "permanently live on the edge".
- African Eye
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