The aunt of deceased nine-year-old Gomolemo Mavimbela burst into tears and walked out of the courtroom when her alleged killer, Sekhukhune United midfielder Shaun Mokete Mogaila, stepped into the courtroom and stood in the accused dock.
The aunt, Fiona Poneo, never returned to the courtroom afterwards, as she struggled to contain herself.
Mogaila, 29, made his first court appearance on Friday at the Thembisa magistrate’s court, east of Johannesburg, following a car crash on Wednesday morning that claimed the life of the little girl.
The crash occurred after Mogaila’s black BMW smashed into the red Hyundai i10 driven by Gomolemo’s mother, Keo Mavimbela.
Mavimbela was transporting her daughter and their neighbour’s 13-year-old son to school. Gomolemo, who was doing grade 4 at Edleen Primary School in Kempton Park, died at the scene.
Mavimbela and the neighbour’s 13-year-old son were rushed to the hospital.
Mogaila is facing charges of culpable homicide, failure to render assistance in an accident (leaving the scene of the accident), and reckless and negligent driving.
During the court proceedings, prosecutor Maxwell Randima said the state was not opposing the bail application of Mogaila because the criminal charges he is facing are schedule one offences, and he has no previous convictions nor pending cases.
Randima said Mogaila’s residential address has also been verified.
No conditions attached to the bail
Mogaila’s lawyer, Octavious Magunda, said he can only afford bail of R5 000, noting that his client earns R40 000 a month.
From that income, he said the soccer player pays about R8 500 per month for his car, R13 000 for bond, and supports his parents financially.
Randima said the state does not oppose the bail amount of R5 000, stating that the state does not have any conditions for bail.
Magistrate Hlengiwe Malevu granted Mogaila R20 000 bail with no conditions and postponed the matter to February 4 for further investigations.
According to Randima, the postmortem report is not yet complete, the J88 forms for Mavimbela’s and the neighbor’s 13-year-old son’s injuries are still pending, and analysis of the crash’s video footage is still necessary.
Mogaila handed himself over to the police on Wednesday afternoon after he fled from the scene of the head-on collision.
After the court proceedings, Gomolemo’s uncle, Patrick Kekana, said he is unhappy that Mogaila was granted bail.
“I am not happy that he got bail. We lost our niece. Her mother is in the hospital. We are not going to have a nice Christmas Day as a family because our niece won’t be with us,” said Kekana.
“He [Mogaila] will be able to spend Christmas with his family. He got bail because he is a famous soccer player who has money.”
Kekana said Mavimbela was still in the intensive care unit and not speaking nor moving.
Condolences to the family
Mogaila’s club, Sekhukhune United, released a statement on Thursday saying: “Sekhukhune United FC regrettably learnt of the unfortunate incident involving one of our players, Shaun Mogaila.
“We would like to convey our deepest and heartfelt condolences to the family of the minor who lost her life.
“Our thoughts and prayers are also with those who have been injured, and we wish them a speedy recovery.
“The club is unable to comment further as the matter is before court.”
Ekurhuleni metro police department spokesperson, Thabiso Makgato, said the car crash happened on Wednesday at 7.30am on Andrew Mapheto Drive.
“It is alleged that a 29-year-old driver, who is supposedly a soccer player, fled the scene after colliding with the motor vehicle,” said Makgato.
“When the Ekurhuleni metro police arrived at the scene, we found four bottles of potent alcohol named Don Julio.
“A powder, which we suspect could be ‘cocaine’ and weed edibles, was also found in his vehicle.”
