Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Arrogant man, angry people.


Horrible, uncomfortable, challenging and draining are the words that come to mind when I think about the events of today.
On Monday our Soweto hip hop star Jub Jub and a friend allegedly downed some alcohol, jumped in their Mini Coopers and went dicing down a two-way suburban road. As one would expect during afternoon peak hour traffic, they encountered an oncoming car so the one in the wrong lane dodged back, clipped the other and they both lost control.
Their cars ploughed into six teenage boys walking home from school, killing four of them.
Jub Jub - fresh back from his appearance on Celebrity Survivor which he walked out of voluntarily after developing a rash on his manly bits - and his mate were duly arrested while the media scrambled to cover what is turning out to be a HUGE story.
Today was their first appearance in court.
I have never seen such chaos. The case drew such attention that the police had to lock the gates to the court, causing thousands of people to gather in the streets. The court building itself was packed out and the courtroom where Jub Jub and friend were to appear turned into one big, heaving, hot, uncomfortable squash. For almost two hours.
It didn't take very long for the matter to eventually be postponed for a week, despite Jub Jub's smooth lawyer's argument that "yes, we have lost four innocent souls, but Your Worship this was an accident...". Ja. His real court submission.
Jub Jub's family were there to support him. His dad, his sister and another guy looking very Michael Jackson in tight pants, bouffant hair, lots of bling and a man bag dangling from his wrist. His mother Mama Jackey - known as the Angel of Soweto before she was branded a liar and convincted of assault - was absent.
And so Jub Jub and mate were escorted back to the cells. Then they were taken away in an armoured van, which was a good thing for them because the angry, angry mob outside stoned it. I think he should be grateful that he was not released on bail.
I got back to the office and filed the story for tomorrow.
There was a bit of a commotion in the newsroom when an anonymously sourced e-mail arrived with photographs of the Jub Jub crash. It was beyond disturbing. Sharp, clear images of dead children that look like they were taken for forensic evidence purposes. Young boys staring lifelessly up at the sky. One with blood dripping from his mouth. Another looking as though his legs were torn off.

3 comments:

  1. I hope to Christmas he gets sent away for life and gets beaten up every day while he's in there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I didnt realise that Jub Jub was the son of Mama Jackey. I remember when he was just starting out, there was the accusation that she was using donated charity money for purposes of launching his career. This whole thing is a stark reminder of how one or two wrong decisions can end up changing your life and those of others forever.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Indeed, momcat. And the sad thing is that Mama Jackey once started out with honorable intentions before she started coaching her kids to act out the fabricated stories she gave them to attract big donors like Oprah Winfrey and the Nelson Mandela Foundation who gave her millions!

    ReplyDelete

 
Afrigator