Case against alleged Joburg sex worker killer postponed due to DNA evidence

The case against a 20-year-old man accused of killing at least one of the six alleged sex workers, discovered last year in a panel-beating business in central Johannesburg, has been postponed.

Sex worker murder accused

Sifiso Mkhwanazi on Monday appeared briefly in the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court for the resumption of his case, but the matter had to be deferred to April for further DNA evidence and CCTV footage of the crime scene building.

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During his court appearance, the state requested the postponement after informing the magistrate that four of the six bodies were positively identified through DNA evidence.

When Mkhwanazi last appeared in court in December, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said investigations were incomplete due to outstanding DNA results.

It also emerged that Mkhwanazi had secured the services of a new legal representative.

Grim discovery

The 20-year-old was arrested on 9 October 2022, following the discovery of six bodies believed to be of sex workers in his father’s panel beating workshop in Selby, central Johannesburg.

Mkhwanazi was charged with only one case of murder because he could not be linked to the other five murders. In October, he declined to apply for bail.

The grim discovery of the decomposed bodies was made after police were called to the building due to a foul smell that was emanating from one of the rooms.

Police confirmed Mkhwanazi was previously arrested on rape charges in June 2021, but the charges were later withdrawn.

Mkhwanazi was remanded in custody and he is due to appear in court again on 25 April 2023.

Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe. Additional reporting by Lunga Mzangwe

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