Pre-sentencing proceedings against convicted serial killer Mkhwanazi postponed
High Court Judge Cassim Moosa put the matter down in order for the State and defence to prepare their heads of arguments.
Convicted sex worker serial killer Sifiso Mkhwanazi in the Palm Ridge Magistrates Court on 14 August 2024. Picture: Jacques Nelles/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - Pre-sentencing proceedings in the case against convicted serial rapist and killer, Sifiso Mkhwanazi have been postponed.
On Wednesday, the Johannesburg High Court heard from a social worker who compiled the final report examining the 21-year-old.
In March, Mkhwanazi was found guilty on six counts of murder, rape and one count of possession of ammunition, after he used his father’s pistol to murder one of his victims.
Mkhwanazi has admitted that in 2022 he lured six sex workers to his father’s workshop in Johannesburg, where he later dumped their bodies.
Only three of the six bodies were identified and claimed by families, all of whom were Zimbabwean nationals.
The social worker who presented the final report to the court on Wednesday, Xolisa Budaza, requested the court hand down direct imprisonment, which is in line with the State’s request for court not to deviate from the minimum prescribed sentence.
Budaza’s report mirrored another report by two psychiatrists from Sterkfontein Hospital, where it came to light that Mkhwanazi was not remorseful about his 2022 murder spree.
Mkhwanazi who began soliciting the services of sex workers from the age of 15, paid some of the workers R50 for their work before murdering them.
High Court Judge Cassim Moosa put the matter down in order for the State and defence to prepare their heads of arguments.
“The matter is postponed to Thursday the 22nd of August 2024 at 09:00 or soon thereafter.”
The mitigation and arguing of sentencing marks the final stage before the court determines a suitable sentence.