Mandoza was 'seen speeding' before crash

Mandoza, whose real name is Mduduzi Tshabalala, was involved in yet another car accident when he allegedly crashed a BMW Mini Cooper belonging to a friend after losing control of the vehicle at around 9am in Weltevreden Park, west of Johannesburg.

However, Tshabalala told Johannesburg metro police that he was not behind the wheel at the time of the crash.

The accident comes barely two years after Tshabalala, 32, was involved in another crash, which left two people dead, on the N1 freeway in western Johannesburg.

An eye witness who saw yesterday's accident, and who spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity, said Tshabalalawas alone in the car at the time of the crash.

"He was driving at a very high speed," the eye-witness said.

"He lost control of the car and hit the pavement and the Mini ricocheted off a palm tree before it spun back onto the road.

"His car caught fire and a taxi driver stopped and put the fire out with his extinguisher, got back into his taxi and drove away."

The eyewitness said that, because of the impact and the spinning, Tshabalala ended up in the back seat of the car with a gash in his forehead.

When paramedics arrived, Tshabalala was helped out of the car and "walked" to an ambulance.

Tshabalala was taken to the casualty ward of the Helen Joseph Hospital, in Auckland Park.

About two hours after the accident, a man who identified himself as Nkululeko Bobo Ncube arrived on the scene and told metro police officers that he was the owner of the car.

Refusing to speak to journalists, Ncube told the officers he believed that Tshabalala had visited his brother on Saturday night and ''could have taken his (Ncube's) keys and driven off in his car".

Ncube said Tshabalala was with his wife, Mpho, who drove off in the kwaito star's Chrysler, leaving him stranded after the couple argued.

Ncube, who also said his car was not insured, appeared upset as he watched a tow truck take his car away.

Metro police spokesman chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said the police were investigating the accident and trying to identify the driver of the car.

Curwin Eaton, Tshabalala's manager, said "He was discharged from the hospital this afternoon. The doctors did some tests and there are some results that need to come back. When I spoke to him he was in a daze because they gave him drips and things. His wife came to get him from the hospital."

Tshabalala, who shot to fame with his hit song Nkalakatha, was found guilty of culpable homicide for causing an accident that left two people dead, after attending an awards ceremony.