Students in South Africa have taken to the streets in outraged at a court decision to grant bail to a hip-hop performer accused of killing four children in a car race.

Police in Johannesburg on Friday used water cannons to disperse angry youths, among them children wearing their school uniforms, who were protesting against the court's decision.

Following a hearing in Johannesburg's Soweto township, Andre Auret, the presiding judge, freed Molemo Maarohanye, known as "Jub Jub", on bail set at the equivalent of $1,363.

Protesters hurled bricks and stones at police and some chanted for the execution of Maarohanye and Themba Tshabalala, a second man involved in the case.

Authorities say both defendants tested positive for cocaine and morphine after the drag race, which was held on March 8 and led to the deaths of four children and left two others in hospital in a critical condition.

Police response

Protests by school-age youths have dogged the three-day trial since it began on Wednesday and police dispersed protesters using rubber bullets.

Some observers have accused the police responding to the protests in a heavy-handed fashion.

But Fiona Forde, a South Africa-based journalist, told Al Jazeera that similar protests and the police response were a near weekly occurrence.

"You must remember this within a broader context," she said.

"We're just months away now from the [football] World Cup and South Africa is desperate to make sure there is a very good image going out to the international community about this country and its safety.

"Anything like street protests is something you really want to keep a lid on."

Jub Jub, which means marshmallow, is one of South Africa's best know hip-hop artists.

His trial has been set for April 7.