Vusi Khekhe's sentencing for Wandile Bozwana's murder delayed again

Notorious taxi boss Vusi “Khekhe” Mathibela and his three accomplices will only know their sentences in December after their case was postponed to allow completion of expert reports.

This is a second delay in sentencing proceedings of the four men convicted of the murder of North West businessman Wandile Bozwana after it was postponed for the same reason in August, to allow the defence’s expert witnesses to consult them.

The others are Sipho Patrick Hudla, 40, Matamela Robert Mutapa, 46, and Bonginkosi Paul Khumalo, 42. They appeared in the Pretoria high court for sentencing on Wednesday.

They are using the same experts and all applied for a postponement.

Judge Mokhine Mosopa slammed the delay but granted the request in a bid to “not interfere with the accused's right to a fair trial”.

“I would like to emphasise and make it clear that it is the last postponement I'm granting the defence ... this postponement is marked final,” Mosopa said.

The matter was postponed to December 6 to 9.

Mathibela's lawyer, Gerhard Botha, argued it was in the interests of justice that the experts be afforded the time they need to complete their reports after having assessed the four men.

Referring to one of the experts, he said: “I would have liked her to be done earlier, but I am in the hands of the psychologist and she said it will take six to eight weeks.”

Masopa interjected and challenged the use of the same expert for all four, asking if it posed a possible conflict of interests.

Botha said it did not, that he had given the psychologist “specific instructions” and if a possibility of such a conflict existed the expert would have indicated so.

Annelene van den Heever, who represents Hudla and Mutapa, said the experts cannot be rushed to do their work, which is important for the court.

“It's in the interests of justice and also the accused's rights to place all the relevant reports before the court,” she said.

Prosecutor Jennifer Cronjé opposed the postponement, arguing the defence had ample time to attend to the expert reports and the application for a postponement was unacceptable.

“This matter is being unreasonably delayed ... this is a very old matter,” she said.

The men were convicted on June 23 of murdering Bozwana and attempting to murder his business partner, Mpho Baloyi, on the Garsfontein off-ramp in Tshwane in October 2015.

On Wednesday, the men were brought to court by eight members of the SAPS' specialised tracking unit, armed with R5 rifles and wearing bulletproof vests. They guarded both entrances during the hearing.

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