Even though he is one of their star players, Sekhukhune United have put Shaune Mogaila on the back burner and will not kick a ball for the club until his court case is finalised.
The star leftback was involved in a motorcar accident that resulted in the death of a nine-year-old school kid in Tembisa earlier this month. The high-speed car crash happened at around 7:00am in the morning when the mother was driving the child to school.
Mogaila is said to have fled the scene of the accident and Ekurhuleni Metro Police said that bottles of alcohol and drugs were also found in the player’s BMW.
Mogaila, who later handed himself in at the Thembisa police station, appeared on charges of culpable homicide, reckless and negligent driving. He was released on R20 000 bail.
Sekhukhune United will play against TS Galaxy on Tuesday at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane. Sekhukhune’s last match was October 29 in a 2-0 win over Richards Bay at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane. It was Sekhukhune’s last Betway Premiership match and Mogaila was stationed at left back and had a barnstorming performance.
Mogaila will make his second appearance in court in February. A well-placed Sekhukhune insider revealed that even though the club is supporting him, he is no longer training with the first team.
“The club is supporting him but they said that the player must wait until the case is finalised. It cannot be business as usual and playing him will cause trouble with our sponsors and the public at large, especially since the accident resulted in the death of a child.
“The public and the community is still very angry; we all saw it on TV and on social media,” said the informant.
“It will not be a clever move to continue playing him when the matter is not finalised. He is not training with the first team at the moment and won’t be part of the team for now.
“The case put him [Shaune] and the club in the spotlight and that cannot be ignored. The club thinks that it is best to put him on hold until the courts make their decision,” he added.
Patrick Kekana, the spokesperson and uncle of the deceased nine-year-old was fuming after the player was granted bail. Kekana told reporters outside the court: “I am not happy that this boy is released on bail, while I lost my niece, and on top of that the mother of my niece is still in critical condition in the intensive care unit. “The justice system favours well-known people and they stand by their side even if they committed a crime,” said
Kekana.
Sekhukhune’s spokesperson Tebogo Mapinga declined to comment. “I cannot comment on the matter. We said it in our statement that we will not comment further on this topic. Our statement holds until the court processes are finalised,” said Mapinga.
