Photo:(Jub Jub couldn’t believe he ran out of lyrics and he will be Hip Hopping to jail)
Johannesburg – He used to have the services of one of the top lawyers in the country, but in his final hours in court, he had to scramble to get someone to represent him.
Molemo “Jub Jub” Maarohanye had to resort to desperate measures to get a lawyer after Ike Motloung dumped him over failure to pay him last October. Maarohanye was then defended by Motloung’s assistant, Wisani Mabaso.
On Tuesday, minutes after Maarohanye was convicted, Mabaso dramatically recused himself from the case, leaving Maarohanye high and dry. The court had to be adjourned for an hour to enable him to find someone who would help him apply for a bail extension.
There was no one, so a dejected Maarohanye had to plead with the court from the dock for his bail to be extended.
”Yes, I know I’m found guilty… Throughout the weekend I was aware of that possibility…” He said as he began his plea.
Maarohanye pleaded with Magistrate Brian Nemavhidi to release him to let him finalise his business matters and appoint someone else to take over his entertainment company. He mentioned having to sort out the policies he had taken out for his two-year-old son, as well as his school fees.
“I’m really hurt about everything,” he said, “I’m not thinking for myself… I understand the actions I was involved in led to this and I’m happy this has reached an end.”
Despite having lost Motloung’s counsel because of his financial woes, Maarohanye – who throughout the trial has been on R10 000 bail – promised to come up with an extra R15 000 in bail should the extension be granted.
State prosecutor Raymond Mathenjwa reminded the court that Maarohanye had been reprimanded numerous times in the past for late coming, that on two occasions he tried to leave the country and that there were no exceptional circumstances to grant him an extension.
Magistrate Nemavhidi said Maarohanye and his co-accused, Themba Tshabalala had had ample time to “get their houses in order”.
He denied them bail and postponed the matter until November 30 for sentencing, after convicting them on four counts of murder, two of attempted murder, racing on a public road without permission and driving while under the influence of drugs. The two were found not guilty of failure to ascertain the injuries of the victims.
Maarohanye and Tshabalala were drag-racing their two Mini Coopers along Mdlalose Street in Protea Glen on March 8, 2010, when they crashed into a group of schoolchildren. Prince Mohube, Mlungisi Cwayi, Andile Mthombeni and Phomello Masemola – who were all walking home from school that afternoon – were killed.
On Tuesday, immediately after the judgment, Tshabalala’s lawyer Mlungiseleli Soviti indicated that they would apply for bail extension so that his client could remain on bail until sentencing in November.
Maarohanye, on the other hand, did not have a lawyer and a legal aid lawyer had to be sought within a few minutes.
Testifying in his bail application, Tshabalala said that after he had been pronounced guilty, he had felt “broken”. He said he realised that he would never have the opportunity to have a future and also achieve his goals.
“I’m remorseful. None of those kids deserved what happened to them,” Tshabalala said as he stood in the dock, head bowed.
Earlier, there was commotion in court during judgment, when the mother of Prince Mohube, one of the boys who died, was overcome by grief and fainted. She was inconsolable as paramedics attended to her, and when her blood pressure skyrocketed, they rushed her to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital.
Article in courtesy of The Star newspaper.
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