 Bullets, stones fly at Jub Jub protest Pupils battle police in bid to storm court Police fired on them with rubber bullets, hosed them with a water cannon, and sprayed teargas, but nothing stopped the thousands of schoolchildren from wanting to get inside the court in which Molemo "Jub Jub" Maarohanye was appearing for allegedly killing their classmates. Chaos reigned outside the Protea Magistrate's Court in Soweto yesterday, when the rapper and his friend, Themba Tshabalala, applied for bail after allegedly killing four schoolboys and critically injuring two others while street racing on Monday last week. Dressed in school uniforms, the pupils barricaded the front gate of the court, which was blocked by a police vehicle. The Times watched as many pupils were arrested after they rammed the gate in waves, screaming. They stared fearlessly at armed police officers and refused to listen to those who tried to calm them. "Aphume nje uzasitholakahle! [If he gets out, he will get what he deserves]," many screamed. Others sang the struggle song Thula Mama. Some of the children were schoolmates at Johannesburg's Jules High School of dead boys Thamsanqa Mohube, Mlungisi Cwayi and Phumelelo Masemola, and of Andile Mthombeni, of Soweto's Altmont Technical High School. The four were killed in the horror smash involving two Mini Coopers allegedly driven by Maarohanye and Tshabalala. Investigating police officer Mpho Matshidiso told the court that schoolboys Fumani Mushwana and Frank Mlambo were still unconscious at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital and were "not responding to treatment". Maarohanye and Tshabalala have been charged with four counts of murder, two of attempted murder, one of reckless and negligent driving, and one of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. More than 200 pupils were marked absent from Jules High School, the principal of which, Gert van Vuuren, told The Times that as much as his staff wanted things to get back to normal at the school, they understood the pupils' anger. "I don't condemn their actions, but we really can't be in a state of mourning and disruption forever. "Absenteeism has been a huge problem since the first court appearance and we even scheduled a test to make sure pupils came to school. Now they have to suffer the consequences of missing that test." Prosecutor Lizelle van Jaarsveld led evidence from Matshidiso and from two local community policing forum members to persuade the court to refuse bail. The dead boys' families' disgust at Maarohanye and Tshabalala was audible when the two walked into court. "Awu'bheke nje lezinto" [Just look at them, these things), said Thamsanqa's uncle. First in the dock was Matshidiso, who testified that he had five witnesses who agreed on what happened at the time of the crash. "We took the two accused to Dube's Vocational Testing Centre straight from the scene where we conducted the breathalyser and urine tests. Maarohanye tested negative for alcohol but with the urine test he tested positive for cocaine and morphine, and his co-accused Tshabalala tested positive for all of them," he said. "After that, we took them to Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital where their blood was taken for more conclusive results." Matshidiso said he wanted the accused to be denied bail until investigations were concluded and "for the safety of both", whom he feared "would be killed if they walked out on bail after several threats from the community have been heard". Maarohanye's lawyer, Ike Motloung, and Tshabalala's attorney, Mlungiseleni Sovithi, tore into Matshidiso. Motloung accused the police of "cooking up" the case, saying: "It's evident that my client is a popular, loved and great star in this country ... inspector, you want to blame my client because you and the media are having a field day on this matter?" Mandla Gasa and Monti Mbatha, members of the local community policing forum, both testified that the two "should not be let out on bail because the community was threatening to kill them". The case was postponed to today, when the state will call more witnesses. But the battle raged on outside court as police fought pupils who uprooted road signs to shield them from rubber bullets and threw bricks at passing cars, including The Times' vehicle, the windows of which were shattered. Gauteng education spokesman Charles Phahlane said the department did not support the pupils' actions. "We cannot dictate to the courts when to hold hearings, but we appeal to pupils to be in school during school hours because that will have an impact on their year-end results," he said. "Yes, they want to show solidarity, but this is not the way to go about it." Police spokesman Captain Mbulaeni Netshivhodza said five pupils aged between 16 and 20 had been arrested for public violence. Pupils vowed to gather again today for the outcomes of the bail applications. - Additional reporting by Zandile Mbabela -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. 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