VUYO MKIZE
T he ACCIDENT in Soweto in which a Mini Cooper ploughed into six schoolchildren and killed four of them was not caused by a collision between the two vehicles, the court heard yesterday.
Six tyre friction marks and a damage analysis of the vehicles indicate that the Mini Coopers driven by Molemo “Jub Jub” Maarohanye and Themba Tshabalala did not collide, even though witnesses had claimed they did.
accident reconstruction expert Renier Balt found that the cars were both in good condition prior to the accident.
Testifying in the Protea Magistrate’s Court yesterday, Balt said he was called to Mdlalose Street in Protea North on March 9 last year, a day after one of the cars ploughed into a group of schoolchildren.
According to eyewitness Maki Ndlovu, who testified in March, the silver-grey Mini Cooper was driven by Maarohanye and the blue Mini Cooper by Tshabalala.
Balt said the blue Mini was travelling at 109km/h and the silver grey Mini at 112km/h.
“The damage on the blue vehicle is consistent with a vehicle that overturned. The two cars did not hit each other; there was no damage suggesting impact, such as paint damage,” he said.
Balt added that the friction marks on the road suggested “oversteering” and not impact with one another.
“The silver-grey car was travelling in front of the blue before swerving to the left. The blue cooper collided with the pedestrians. On the road surface, three tyre marks indicated the path of the blue mini cooper and the other three indicate the path of the silver cooper. In this case, the road is straight and it is evident that the cars oversteered, creating those marks,” he stated.
Maarohanye’s lawyer, Ike Motloung, questioned Balt on his qualification as an expert in the field of accident reconstruction and on how he could conclude that there was no contact between the vehicles even though other witnesses claimed there was collision.
“There are four or five people who have testified that these vehicles collided; so you as an expert, are you saying there could be a hundred people saying the vehicles collided and that evidence wouldn’t count?” Motloung asked.
Balt answered: “I must stay objective to the physical evidence. If there are a hundred people that say the vehicles collided and there is no evidence of that, then I can’t say there was.”
Earlier yesterday, Motloung concluded his cross-examination of Major Moses Segapo, the senior investigating officer.
Segapo had previously testified that on the morning after the crash, two witnesses approached him at the Protea Glen police station to make statements. However, upon talking to the witnesses, Segapo claims he noticed that the two boys had been “coached” by Motloung and he told them that before taking their statements, he would have to ask the senior prosecutor.
Motloung accused the major of having a “sifting process” and of taking down statements he liked and ignoring those he disliked.
He also questioned Segapo on the urine samples of both accused men which stayed in the evidence locker for 10 days before being taken to a laboratory for testing.
“I put it to you that you dirtied the investigation. It was not proper or fair. “You investigated the matter with a particular aim for certain things you aimed to get,” Motloung stated.
Maarohanye and Tshabalala face charges of murder, attempted murder and driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
The trial continues.