The sentencing proceedings of the man convicted of killing a car guard in the Johannesburg inner city have been delayed after the probation officer who was expected to testify failed to show up in court.

On Friday, the Johannesburg magistrate’s court was ready to listen to the probation officer’s submission as to why Philani Mkhulisa should get a lesser sentence for killing car guard Xolani Meswane.

However, prosecutor Welcome Madela informed the court that the probation officer was unavailable on the day.

“It would have been better if the probation officer had given us the report so that at least we can prepare for the next day but that is not the case,” Madela said.

The case was then postponed to August 11, the date on which the probation officer is available.

In May, Mkhulisa was found guilty of killing Meswana four years ago.

On August 7 2018, Mkhulisa assaulted Meswana in the Johannesburg inner city.

Mkhulisa, who was 25 at the time of the crime, had parked his car and gone to McDonald's with his girlfriend. When he returned, he found it broken into and his laptop and ID were missing. He then assaulted Meswana, accusing him of breaking into his car.

Meswana was declared dead by paramedics later that night. Postmortem results showed he was killed by blunt force head injuries.

Samuel Diseko who was the state’s only eyewitness detailed to the court how Mkhulisa hit the deceased with an open hand before throwing him on the ground and trampling on him.

The court found that Diseko’s testimony was credible and consistent with the post-mortem results.

dlaminip@sowetan.co.za