LEBOGANG SEALE
AS THE festive season gets into full swing, some Sowetans might be excused for celebrating with a touch of trepidation – with a number of verdicts relating to a variety of offences expected to be made known early in the new year.
Leading the nervous pack are hip hop artist Molemo “Jub Jub” Maarohanye and Themba Tshabalala, whose murder case for allegedly crashing their Mini Coopers into a group of schoolchildren, killing four and injuring two, has dominated the news since the tragedy on March 8 last year.
Although postponed intermittently, the trial has not been short of drama. Each time they appeared in court, Tshabalala and Maarohanye have had to contend with taunts from angry relatives of their victims.
In another case, Meadowlands High School principal Moss Senye and a teacher at the school, Solly Phehle, may soon find out if they still have their jobs.
The Gauteng Department of Education suspended the two after they were charged for allegedly slapping, punching and kicking a pupil at the school.
The case will be heard before January 18 to avoid hundreds of teachers continuing their defiance of the department’s order that they not abandon classes to attend the court hearing in solidarity with their “comrades”.
The assault case, in February, put a new strain on the already frosty relationship between the department and the SA Democratic Teachers Union’s Gauteng central region, of which Senye is the leader.
If Meadowlands High pupils fare badly when the matric results are released, the underperformance may be blamed on the disturbances that emanated from Senye’s case.
Education MEC Barbara Creecy admitted – at an event to wish the matrics good luck in their final exams – that the department “has had some difficult days at Meadowlands High School”.
As the year draws to a close, 25 Chiawelo residents might still be pondering how close they were to spending Christmas and New Year behind bars after the Protea Magistrate’s Court denied them bail following their arrest for allegedly torching houses belonging to two local councillors in July.
After two bail bids failed, the Johannesburg High Court released the suspects following their appeal.
Meanwhile, the situation remains grim for two Absa employees of the bank’s branch at Jabulani Mall.
Kate Kekana and Portia Dioka will spend their second Christmas behind bars after they were arrested for allegedly stealing R1.1 million of the bank’s money in September last year.
They are appearing at the Protea Magistrate’s Court along with their co-accused, Sydney Ngalo and Leonard Moriti.
Gauteng police also confirmed that they were investigating six of their own members for allegedly stealing most of the R1.1m recovered.
Also in September last year, Soweto’s judiciary system was rocked by a scandal when some of its prosecutors were arrested, along with lawyers and police members, for allegedly colluding with businessmen to conjure up charges against rivals of a bakery owner.
Dubbed “the bread case”, the scandal saw 14 suspects arrested on charges including corruption, racketeering, extortion and defeating the ends of justice.
Among the suspects was alleged kingpin and bakery owner Sean Tuna, who had allegedly used his influence in the West Rand Organised Crime Unit against people connected to his competitors.
The State alleges Tuna was so unscrupulous that he would fabricate evidence against his victims and ensure they were denied bail. Some of his alleged victims were convicted and served sentences.