Joburg sex worker killer Mkhwanazi a candidate for rehabilitation: lawyer

Sifiso Mkhwanazi, who lured six sex workers to a panelbeating workshop in central Johannesburg where he tied them up, raped them and strangled them, can be rehabilitated and should not be handed a lengthy sentence for the murders. 

Mkhwanazi, 21, appeared in the Johannesburg high court sitting in Palm Ridge on Wednesday for arguments in mitigation and aggravation of sentencing. 

His lawyer Vuyo Maqetuka told the court he should not be handed life imprisonment for the murders, counts should run concurrently and the accumulative sentence should be 20 years in prison. 

In March the court found Mkhwanazi guilty of six counts of murder, six of rape, six of defeating the administration of justice, one of possession of ammunition and one of unlawful possession of a firearm.

Maqetuka said his client admitted he killed the six sex workers and he also spent almost three years in prison, including his incarceration in 2021 when he was falsely accused of raping a sex worker. 

Maqetuka argued Mkhwanazi grew up in an environment where the relationship with his father was strained and had access to sex workers when he was only 15 years old. He also lived in a child-headed home for a while with his elder sister taking the role of a parent. 

“These are compelling circumstances [to deviate from minimum sentencing] and he has no previous conviction.

“The court should take into consideration that before he was arrested in 2021 he had many sexual encounters with sex workers and before that there had not been an incident towards the sex workers. It only began after the incarceration,” argued Maqetuka. 

Mkhwanazi was still young, he said. If sentenced to a longer period with a specified recommended intervention by the probation officer who consulted him, he could be rehabilitated.

“I believe he is a good candidate for rehabilitation and would be able to reintegrate into society. I believe he should be given that opportunity so he can start his own family. 

“He has shown with interaction with the probation officer and the psychiatrist that he can open up in an environment of psychotherapy and with the recommended interventions over a long period it will assist him,” he said. 

Prosecutor Leswikane Mashabela relied heavily on the psychiatric report indicating Mkhwanazi was hiding information. 

“If we want to get the information as to what happened during the killings and the rapes, he only says he can't remember and the only thing he remembers is it was about a payment dispute,” said Mashabela. 

He argued the court correctly rejected that the killings were prompted by the payment dispute after sex with the sex workers.

On the count of defeating the ends of justice, most aggravating was all the bodies were at a high level of decomposition and one a skeleton. 

“Three of these bodies were not identified because of the level of decomposition. Is this the sort of offence where you say, defeating the ends of justice, the accused just dumped the bodies? The facts are different in the manner in which the bodies were concealed.”

Despite Mkhwanazi's youth, the court was dealing with a dangerous criminal.

Mashabela agreed with the report from a psychiatrist that “we are dealing with a dangerous criminal and the accused must be declared as such”.

He asked the court to sentence him to life in prison for the murder counts and determine the date on which he should be brought to court again to assess if he has changed.

“As things stand now from the report, chances of him being rehabilitated seem to be small. He must go and serve and, after 25 years, be brought again and see if he has changed — and if not, he must again be sentenced. 

“My submission is there are no substantial and compelling circumstances for the court to deviate from the minimum sentence and therefore the court must also declare the accused a dangerous criminal.”

The case was postponed to September 18 for sentencing. 

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