Mkhwanazi abandons bail, sex worker murder case continues

Sifiso Mkhwanazi, the 20-year-old arrested in connection with the murder of six sex workers, applied for bail at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday morning, before changing his mind on the matter halfway through.

Mkhwanazi was arrested after six bodies were discovered in a building in Johannesburg earlier this month.

Sex worker murders

Mkhwanazi’s bail application

To date, Mkhwanazi has been charged with only one count of murder, as the state reportedly doesn’t have enough evidence to link him to the rest as yet.

Mkhwanazi on Monday made an appearance at the magistrate’s court but abandoned his bail application.

The case continues and he will be charged with one count of murder.

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The case against Mkhwanazi

The discovery of six bodies of sex workers rocked the community, with police spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili saying officers were called to the building “due to a foul smell”.

“That is when a body of a woman was found. A preliminary investigation led the police to the suspect, believed to be the last person seen with the deceased woman”.

Crowds gathered outside the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court earlier this month, after an ID parade was postponed because an official was in church.

Calls for death sentence

Sex workers told The Citizen’s Lunga Mzangwe that Mkhwanazi deserved to die: “The women he murdered had children, families, and they will never come back”.

“A life sentence will never be enough. He deserves to die a death as painful as the ones they suffered at his hands,” said one woman who asked to remain anonymous.

Another sex worker alleged Mkhwanazi was the last person to be seen with the woman who disappeared three months ago.

“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.”

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Additional reporting by Lunga Mzangwe.