The release of Sekhukhune United’s Shaun Mogaila on R20,000 bail after a fatal crash that claimed the life of a 9-year-old girl has left family members furious. Picture: Simon Majadibodu / IOL
The family of a nine-year-old girl who died after a horrific crash involving Sekhukhune United player Shaun Mogaila, 29, has expressed deep disappointment with the justice system after he was granted a bail of R20,000, stating that it favours popular people.
The fatal crash also left the mother of the girl and teenage boy, aged 13, in hospital.
The PSL star made his first court appearance at the Thembisa Magistrate’s Court, on Friday, after the crash that occurred on October 30 in the morning.
This comes after suspected cocaine, edibles, and pricey Don Julio tequila bottles were allegedly found in the vehicle belonging to the PSL soccer star. He later allegedly fled the scene, and handed himself over to police later on the same day.
The court appearance which was scheduled to start at 8.30am, started a few minutes before 2pm.
The family of the deceased young girl grew suspicious when Mogaila’s name was not appearing on the list of cases to be heard for the day.
The family told IOL News that they suspected that something fishy was happening as his name was not mentioned on the list like other people.
However, a few hours later inside the courtroom, family members of the girl broke into tears as Mogaila entered the courtroom with a bandage on his forehead.
State prosecutor Maxwell Randima told the court that Mogaila is facing charges of culpable homicide, reckless and negligent driving and fleeing the scene, adding that the Dash Cam video which has since gone viral will be taken for lab analysis.
Randima said the State has no grounds to oppose his bail application.
Mogaila’s lawyer Octavius Magunda said his client pockets R40,000 per month and that he can afford a bail of R5,000.
“The accused will be able to pay that amount because he is supporting his family, paying R8500 for his BMW, and R13,500 for his bond.”
However, Magistrate Hlengiwe Malevu slapped Mogaila with a bail of R20,000, with no additional conditions, and postponed the case to next year February 4 for further investigations.
“The State has to investigate an outstanding video footage, postmortem report, as well as the J88 which is a medical report and statement that will have to be obtained,” Malevu said.
Speaking with the media outside the court, Patrick Kekana, the spokesperson and uncle of the deceased girl expressed anger that Mogaila has been released on bail.
“I am not happy that this boy is released on bail, while I Iost my niece, and on top of that the mother of my niece is still in critical condition in the intensive care unit (ICU) together with the 13-year-old boy,” said Kekana.
Kekana accused the justice system of favouring well-known people, alleging that they stand by their side even if they committed a crime.
“I see that if you have money in South Africa, everything will go well and if not like me, it will be a disaster. If it was me, they would have not given me bail, but because he is a popular footballer everything goes well for him,” Kekana said in a sad tone.
Thembisa Community Forum chairperson Lele Lefakane slammed the lack of conditions on Mogaila’s bail.
“As the community we are really disappointed. We did not expect that because he fled the scene after the crash, and people had to look for him as he was not ready to face the consequences of his actions,” said Lefakane.
IOL News