Jub Jub adamant that witnesses are lying

2011-12-06 22:35

Johannesburg - The murder trial of musician Molemo "Jub Jub" Maarohanye and his co-accused Themba Tshabalala was postponed until February 20 by the Protea Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Raymond Mathenjwa continued to cross-examine Maarohanye on Tuesday on the events leading to the car crash on March 8 last year in which four school children died and two were seriously injured.

Maarohanye and Tshabalala allegedly crashed into the group of school children in Mdlalose Street, Protea North, while racing their blue and grey Mini Coopers.

Maarohanye, who was driving a grey Mini Cooper S, took to the stand on Monday to give his version of events.

He denied hitting any of the children, saying he struck a kerb after Tshabalala crashed into him.

He said he was driving on the left side of the road heading north while Tshabalala, who was driving a blue Mini Cooper S, was on the right facing oncoming traffic on the two-way road.

Maarohanye told the court he had a brief blackout after crashing into the kerb. When he regained consciousness, his car was lying sideways against a tree.

"I did not hit anybody. When I hit the tree there was no one I had hit," he told the court in response to questions from his lawyer Ike Motloung on Monday.

Maarohanye said he knew this because his car did not have blood on it. Its body was not damaged, as opposed to Tshabalala's bloodied car.

On Tuesday Mathenjwa dismissed Maarohanye's claim of having suffered a blackout as "a concoction".

He said Maarohanye's version of events did not match that of several eye witnesses, including that of his friend Tumelo Mukoka, who was a passenger in his car when it crashed.

Mathenjwa told Maarohanye that if he could remember that he did not hit anyone until he hit a tree, he had not suffered a blackout.

During cross-examination by Mathenjwa, Maarohanye told the court that he had not told his attorney about the blackout he suffered in the accident.

Mathenjwa referred to evidence given by Katlego Kgomo that Maarohanye crashed into two children from Almond High School in Protea South, and that this was never disputed by Motloung.

He asked why this was the case and Maarohanye said he could not explain.

Mathenjwa said Mukoka had not mentioned that Maarohanye suffered a blackout.

He read out Mukoka's testimony that Maarohanye was hit by Tshabalala's car and lost control of it before it hit a kerb.

Witnesses are lying

Earlier in his testimony, Maarohanye said that after being hit by Tshabalala's car on the right rear side, he held on tight to his steering wheel and kept the vehicle straight.

But Mukoka said that after hitting the kerb, Maarohanye tried to control his car until it landed on its side on the side of the road.

Maarohanye said that from the time he hit the kerb, he did not know what happened and woke to find his car on the side of the road facing the road at 90° angle.

Mathenjwa challenged Maarohanye's evidence about the time blood was drawn from him and Tshabalala at Chris Hani Baragwaneth Hospital on the day of the accident.

Maarohanye had said blood was drawn from them by a Dr Luko around 23:00, but both the doctor and a policeman identified as Maseko indicated that it was between21:00 and 22:00.

"Are you saying the doctor is lying," Mathenjwa asked.

"I remember Dr Luko clearly. We did not really get a pleasant treatment from him. I only got charged at 01:00. If that was the case why were we sitting at the hospital until 00:00. Even Themba can tell you," Maarohanye said.

"Mr Maseko lied about a lot of things. Mr Maseko and the doctor as far as I am concerned are lying," he said.

Mathenjwa also questioned Maarohanye about his evidence that he met Tshabalala at a stop sign along Mdlalose Street in Protea Glen moments before the accident.

The lawyer referred to earlier testimony by two witnesses, Portia Mahlangu and Ntokozo Mahlangu, that Maarohanye and Tshabalala stopped in the middle of the road, obstructing traffic, before they allegedly took off parallel to each other at high speed.

The witnesses said Tshabalala overtook Maarohanye and drove on the left side of the road before the musician overtook him again before the accident.

However, Maarohanye insisted that the two stopped at a stop sign and that he drove off with Tshabalala behind him until the accident occurred as Tshabalala tried to overtake.

Mathenjwa again asked why the witnesses' evidence was not disputed by Maarohanye's attorney if it was not true.

"Once again, sir, the witnesses are lying. The blue car [Tshabalala's] was never ever in front of me. The only time it tried to overtake was when the accident happened," Maarohanye said.

Cross-examination will continue when the trial resumes in February. Mathenjwa said he had run out of time for the day and he still had a lot to put to Maarohanye.

The trial was delayed for almost three hours earlier on Tuesday morning by the late arrival of Tshabalala's attorney Mlungiseleni Soviti.

The trial will run from February 20 to March 2.

Maarohanye and Tshabalala are out on bail.

- SAPA