Johannesburg - The delays in DNA results have resulted in the postponement of the case against 20-year-old Sifiso Mkhwanazi, who is alleged to have raped and killed at least one of the six women sex workers.
Mkhwanazi is believed to have lured some of the women to his father’s panel-beating workshop in Selby Village, Johannesburg, for more than a year.
The 20-year-old suspect appeared briefly before the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday for the resumption of his case.
However, the matter had to be postponed to February 20 next year after the state requested another postponement for further investigations due to outstanding DNA results.
The state further informed the court that police had failed to carry out some instructions on the identification of the deceased using DNA, which led to further delays in the case.
Mkhwanazi was arrested on Sunday, October 9 this year after security personnel alerted Mkhwanazi’s father to a foul smell coming out of the building, which was detected by one of the workers. Upon arrival, police discovered six bodies believed to be those of sex workers. However, until today, Mkhwanazi was only directly linked to one count of murder, with the remaining bodies still to be linked to him.
Police confirmed Mkhwanazi was arrested on rape charges in June 2021, but the charges were later withdrawn.
During his last appearance in November, state advocate Tshepo Mahange KaMzizi stated that it takes about six weeks for DNA results to come back. The case was thus postponed to December 7, 2022, for further investigation.
On Tuesday, the state advocate requested another postponement, saying the issues with the DNA were still outstanding.
“We have an application ‘before court’ for Raymond for further investigations; however, your worship, we’d like to ask the honourable court that, in the last instance, we did indicate ... that DNA is outstanding,” advocate Mahange ka Mzizi said.
“As a matter of fact, we are not anywhere close to finalising that part of the evidence so that we can then inform the honourable court on how far we are with the investigation obtaining such DNA.”
The Star