Joburg bodies: Accused claims father tried to force him to confess

The man accused of killing one of the six women believed to be sex workers claims he has been forced to confess to his alleged crime.

Identified as Sifiso Mkhwanazi during his third court appearance in the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, he told the court this occurred when his father and one of the investigating officers visited him at the Johannesburg police station.

This is where Mkhwanazi was held for the identification parade, where he said attempts were made to coerce him.

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Request for father to stop visiting

His lawyer Khanyiswa Mkhabe told Magistrate Betty Khumalo that Mkhwanazi wanted the court to rule that his father should not visit him until the case had been concluded.

“We would like to ask to that in the accused J7 state that the accused is barred from visiting until the finalisation of this matter or until further notice,” Mkhabe.

Khumalo said nobody was compelled to make the accused confess, and that such a confession would be worthless if it was forced.

“People must understand, even the family, that confession is something that a person must do freely and voluntarily, without any undue influence.

“If it is going to surface at a later stage that we are sitting a confession that was irregular obtained, then we would have a problem,” said Khumalo.

“A confession you cannot just willy nilly get… He cannot be compelled otherwise it will be useless to have such a confession. The accused is still innocent until proven guilty; the state still has an obligation to ensure that this case properly investigated to the fullest.”

Prosecutor Advocate Tshepo Mhange ka Mzizi said the accused has a right to family visit, and wants to avoid the accused later saying he had been denied that right.

“I plead with the court to establish with the accused whether he wants his father to visit or not, so that state is not accused of violating his rights for visitation,” he said.

But Khumalo said it was up to Mkhwanazi to say who can and cannot visit him.

“The accused can still exercise his choice to say if they call him for visitors; he can still decline and say he is not up to seeing that person,” she said.

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ID parade

One of the sex workers who was part of the identification parade said seeing the accused made her as scared.

“We were so scared when [we] went to identify him. The minute I saw that he was the one who took one of the girls three months ago in front of me, I started shaking, and I even asked for the toilet,“ she said.

“He took her in front of my eyes, he left with her, and the following day she never came back. We have tried to look for her but we never found her.”

She said Mkhwanazi was charming and sweet when he allegedly took on of the girls.

“We never thought he would be capable of such, especially at his age.”

She said they would be happy if the accused was not to be granted bail, as she and other women feared for their live.

“If he is granted bail, it’s either he will come and finish us, or never come back for court.”

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DNA testing

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonodwane said they were still unsure about when DNA testing would be completed, as they were relying on family members of the women.

“DNA is not the competency of the NPA, therefore we cannot give a specific time frame when the DNA would ready to be consumed by the family members.

“As soon as we received those results, the family members will be notified.”

On the alleged forcing of the confession from the father and investigating officer, Mjonodwane said there were specific requirements for a confession to be admissible in court.

“If the process that was followed as alleged by the accused does not meet the requirements of the law, then obviously that cannot stand in a court of law.

“However, we are yet to investigate what has been brought before court by the accused person, as we are not aware of information as the NPA.”