Musician Molemo “Jub Jub” Maarohanye has blamed his co-accused, Themba Tshabalala, for the deaths of four Soweto schoolchildren.
Prosecutor Raymond Mathenjwa put Maarohanye to the sword with some tough cross-examination on Monday when the trial resumed in the Protea Magistrate’s Court for what he said were contradictions in his testimony.
“Is it your evidence that accused two (Tshabalala) is the cause of the accident and the (children’s) mortality?” asked Mathenjwa.
The question seemed to jolt Maarohanye. After pausing for almost a minute and giving a sigh, he replied: “I would say yes.”
His response was met with murmurs and jeers, especially from the parents and relatives of his alleged victims.
Mathenjwa then asked Maarohanye how it came about that traces of the same drugs – including cocaine, morphine and codeine – had been found in his and Tshabalala’s blood samples.
“So you are telling this court that (Tshabalala), in his peril, also took the medication?” Mathenjwa asked.
“It’s highly likely that our urine (samples) were tampered with,” Maarohanye said.
Mathenjwa was less impressed.
“How do you explain that? When did this tampering happen? And who do you suspect and why?”
Maarohanye stood stony-faced and did not respond.
The gallery again broke into murmurs when Maarohanye, asked how cocaine was used, gave
a frank response. He said it was injected through syringes and sniffed through the nose.
“It’s also smoked through a pipe,” he said.
“A lot of people in the (music) industry do take (cocaine),” said Maarohanye.
He had told the court earlier that Tshabalala had offered him whisky moments before their ill-fated trip. The offer was declined.
Mathenjwa then explored the contentious issue of which of the two Mini Coopers had been travelling in the right lane before crashing into a group of schoolchildren.
The State contends that Maarohanye’s charcoal-black Mini Cooper was the one that had been travelling on the right.
“Your track marks were on the right and were crossing over (the lane). Your car was on the right-hand side of the blue car (Tshabalala’s),” asserted Mathenjwa.
Maarohanye denied this. He also maintained his assertion that he had not been drag-racing, blaming the media for this allegation.
“The whole racing thing was a fabrication by the media,” he said.
Maarohanye and Tshabalala face charges of murder, attempted murder and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
The trial continues. - The Star