Sekhukhune player in custody after fatal car crash

Drugs, alcohol found in Mogaila's vehicle – cops

"That car was flying. I saw it driving at a high speed and I was like, oh my God! because I could see disaster waiting to happen."

This is how a  security guard at a bus station in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, described the horrific car accident involving Sekhukhune United player Shaune Mogaila, which left a nine-year-old girl dead on Wednesday morning. 

Her mother and their neighbour's son were rushed to hospital.

Mogaila was driving his black BMW when he collided with a Hyundai i10 driven by a woman with two young passengers. 

The guard, who asked not to be named,said after the crash he ran to the accident scene but the driver of the BMW, who Ekurhuleni metro police said was Mogaila, was nowhere to be seen.

Ekurhuleni Metro police spokesperson Thabiso Makgato confirmed that Mogaila handed himself at the Rabie Ridge police station in the afternoon.

The guard said he had just started his shift around 7am and was smoking at a bridge over Andrew Mapheto Drive. 

"I then saw it [BMW] jumping the pavement to the opposite side. I heard a loud screeching sound as if he [the driver] was trying to stop. Then the car hit the i10. I then heard a loud bang and the i10 flew into the air," said the eyewitness.

The bridge  is about 800m from the crash scene.

He said the woman and children sustained serious injuries and the woman's daughter was declared dead at the scene.

Dagga, a powder believed to be cocaine and alcohol were allegedly found in Mogaila's car following the crash, said Makgato.

A case of culpable homicide, reckless and negligent driving and fleeing the scene of the accident has been opened.Metro police spokesperson Thabiso Makgato

Makgato said when metro police officers arrived at the accident scene they found four bottles of “potent alcohol named Don Julio in Mogaila's car.

“Powder, which we suspect could be cocaine, and weed [cannabis] edibles were also found in his vehicle. A case of culpable homicide, reckless and negligent driving and fleeing the scene of the accident has been opened,” she said.

Hours before the accident, Mogaila was part of the Sekhukhune United team that beat Richards Bay 2-0 in Polokwane, Limpopo.

In 2019, Sowetan interviewed Mogaile, who hails from Ga-Mashashane outside Polokwane in Limpopo. At the time, he was a new member of Highlands Park and has been showing promises of playing for bigger clubs in the PSL.

He told this newspaper of his plans to balance his books and soccer. He was able to enroll at the University of Johannesburg at the beginning of 2017 and studied mathematical science  – majoring in computer science and applied maths.

Through the university, he was able to continue playing football in the SAB League and the Varsity Cup. "It's not that easy to balance education with being a professional footballer, because the course that I'm doing is demanding a lot. I'm doing a lot of modules and most of the time I have to be in class.

"But what matters the most, and this is key, is time management. Now that I'm done with training, I have to go cover whatever was done in the morning class. It takes a lot of character and determination," he said at the time.

SowetanLIVE