The Gauteng High Court sitting in Palm Ridge has postponed the sex workers murder trial after the defence lawyer fell ill. Self-confessed murderer Sifiso Mkhwanazi is standing trial for the rape and murders of six sex workers. He was due to continue with his testimony today.
ADJOURNMENT
State prosecutor Lesekwane Mashabela told the court that he received instruction from the defence for the matter to stand down for the day. "I received a call this morning from the accused council that he was not feeling well and as a result he won't be able to come to court. Unfortunately, I did not ask him the nature of his illness, but he promised me that he will be here to proceed with the matter tomorrow. As a result, it is my submission that we cannot proceed with the matter in the absence of the accused council, "he said. Mashabela added that he managed to instruct the investigating officer not to bring the witness to court, however he unfortunately couldn't inform the father of the accused who was present in court. Judge Kassim Moosa who is presiding over the matter instructed the accused's father Mark Khumalo that he was still under oath and warned him to return to court tomorrow and for the duration of the trial until he is excused.
Mkhwanazi took the stand yesterday to testifying in a trial-within-a-trial to determine the admissibility of the confession he allegedly made to his father, days after his arrest. Mkhwanazi admitted to killing all six sex workers but has pleaded not guilty to all charges tabled against him. He is facing six counts of murder, seven counts of rape, six counts of defeating or obstructing the administration of justice, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. Mkhwanazi who dropped out in grade 6 admitted that between April and October 2022, he unlawfully and internationally killed Chihota Nyarai by shooting her once in the head using his father's gun and concealed her corpse in a black trolley bin. He further stole her Nokia cellphone. During the same period, he admitted to killing another woman by strangling her with an arm choke and once she was unconscious, tied a sock around her head and covered her mouth and then wound an orange rope around her neck. He told the court that he the concealed her remains by wrapping her with a blanket and put it in a white truck that was parked outside the makeshift workshop.
In the same period, Mkhwanazi admitted to strangling another woman with an arm choke, once unconscious he covered her face and neck with a blue cloth and tied a black belt over the cloth on her neck. He then wrapped the body with a duvet and concealed it in a white panel van outside the makeshift workshop. Mkhwanazi further strangled another victim also a woman with an arm choke and then rolled up a part of a cardigan in her mouth and wrapped the rest of the cardigan over her mouth and neck. He also covered the victims face with a t-shirt and wrapped a pair of leggings over the t-shirt. The accused also admitted to killing Joyce Moyo by strangling her with an arm choke, tied her with a cloth over her mouth, nose and neck. He put Moyo's corpse in a big transparent plastic bag and concealed it behind scrap metal outside the makeshift workshop. In the same manner, Mkhwanazi admitted to killing Patricia Magaiza by strangling her, covered her face with a cloth and tied a rope over the cloth around her neck. He then concealed Magaizais corpse in a drum full of old vehicle oil in the panel beating workshop. When the body couldn't fit completely in the drum, he removed it and placed it outside the yard. In his plea for a lenient sentence, Mkhwanazi defended himself claiming that he had not planned any of the murders of the six sex workers, but it happened out of instinct.
