By Levy Masiteng
Media personality and musician Molemo “Jub Jub” Maarohanye was released on R5,000 bail on Tuesday after bringing an urgent application before the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg.
Maarohanye had initially been expected to appear in the Germiston Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday following his arrest in connection with an alleged altercation involving an e-hailing driver in Edenvale on Sunday morning.
Police said the 45-year-old television presenter was arrested after the driver reported that he had been “confronted” by Jub Jub, after dropping off a female passenger at a residence in Edenvale.
According to police, the suspect accused the driver of being romantically involved with his girlfriend before allegedly forcing him into a vehicle and preventing him from leaving.
Police further alleged that a firearm was discharged in the direction of the driver during the confrontation.
“The e-hailing driver managed to escape unharmed and immediately drove to a nearby police station to report the matter,” police said in an earlier statement.
Police initially said Maarohanye was expected to face charges including kidnapping, unlawful discharge of a firearm and defeating the ends of justice.
However, the charge now before court is one of pointing anything likely to lead a person to believe that it is a firearm.
Maarohanye previously served prison time for culpable homicide after he and co-accused Themba Tshabalala crashed their cars into a group of schoolboys in Soweto in 2010, killing four and seriously injuring two others.
He was initially convicted of murder in 2012, but the conviction was reduced on appeal to culpable homicide in 2014. He was released on parole in January 2017.
The latest matter was postponed to 22 June in the Germiston Magistrate’s Court for further investigation.
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