The matter against musician Molemo "Jub jub" Maarohanye has been postponed to 5 February 2024. He appeared briefly at the Johannesburg Magistrates' Court accompanied by his father and a team of bodyguards. Dressed in grey tracksuits and matching sneakers, Jub Jub appeared relaxed and paid much attention to the presiding magistrate as she was addressing him.

DOES THE STATE HAVE A STRONG CASE?

Jub Jub's defence Advocate Terrence Baloyi said if the complainants understood the seriousness of the charges they were bringing forward, they would have done so a long time ago. "We are talking about something that happened 20 years ago, I still maintain that if the plea was that serious, it should have been brought earlier. I'm wondering if the state has a strong case against us because in an issue where they say "a life being in danger" why wait so long?" asked Baloyi. He said he is not seeing any difficulties but the procedure has to be followed. "There's nothing to worry about, however, right now we are not at the stage to say whether we are ready or not. We said we were going to consult and requested further particulars. We don't know whether we are going to be provided with what we need so we are still going to sit down. I will not get into the merits of the case but I want to know, for example, if you say you were raped in 2010 why were you mum about it for so long," said Baloyi.

POSSIBLE RE-ALLOCATION

Magistrate Betty Khumalo said the matter could be moved to a different court. She said it was not her call but that of the court management. "It's the management that said the matter should be reallocated to a different court because I will be busy with other matters in January. Hence I'm suggesting that you take the 5th February or a much earlier date," Khumalo said. She added that she was postponing the matter for further consultation and possible re-allocation. Jub Jub is facing 13 charges, ranging from multiple counts of rape, indecent assault, assault to cause grievous bodily harm and several counts of kidnapping.