Sex worker killer Sifiso Mkhwanazi found ‘not to be out of touch with reality’

A psychiatric report has found that Sifiso Mkhwanazi, the man convicted of murdering six sex workers in Johannesburg, does not show any signs of mental illness.

Mkhwanazi’s pre-sentencing proceedings got underway in the Johannesburg High Court, sitting in Palm Ridge, on Wednesday.

In his last appearance in July, Judge Cassim Moosa ordered a mental evaluation of Mkhwanazi to assess whether he poses a danger to society.

Moosa found the accused guilty of committing the murders in March.

Mkhwanazi was convicted on charges of rape, murder, defeating the ends of justice, theft of a cellphone, and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

No symptoms of mental illness

During Wednesday’s proceedings, a psychiatrist presented the findings from the mental assessment report, which concluded that Mkhwanazi did not express remorse for his crimes.

The judge sought clarification on whether Dr Indhrin Chetty and the other expert who evaluated Mkhwanazi believed that the accused exhibited symptoms of mental illness.

“When the court refers to paragraph three of your report, the court can accept that as a result of the examination and assessment of the accused before this court that he did not display any symptoms suggestive of mental illness during the commission of these crimes,” Moosa said.

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“We did not get any evidence during the assessment interviews of any mental illness,” Chetty replied.

The report also determined that Mkhwanazi was “coherent and not psychotic” during the assessment.

“By that we meant that he did not show any symptoms that indicated that he was out of touch with reality,” the psychiatrist told the court.

Mkhwanazi rehabilitation?

Moosa further noted that the report suggested that the accused was a dangerous criminal.

“Having considered the accused and looking at the totality of the evidence that was presented to you… would the accused benefit as an individual from a short period of imprisonment having due regard to all these static risk factors that are present?

“Or is he a candidate who needs to be removed from society for a lengthy period of time in order to rehabilitate him properly and to protect society at the same time?” the judge asked.

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Chetty responded that he believed Mkhwanazi should receive a lengthy sentence.

“Taking account into the nature of the offences and the opinion we come to from the interview, this is not a short process of rehabilitation if we are to achieve any degree of success.

“We would think that he requires a much longer containment period with interventions and hence we make the recommendation that in the event that he is considered for parole, we are happy to do a reassessment to then advise the court,” the expert said.

Chetty added that the doctors also considered the likelihood of improvement in Mkhwanazi’s rehabilitation.

“We don’t think that the chances are great, but we still make the recommendation so that we give him a chance.

“So, it is difficult to say if he will rehabilitate or not but we do give him a chance, considering his age as well,” he concluded.

Mkhwanazi confessed

Mkhwanazi previously admitted to killing the six Zimbabwean women between April and October 2022.

The accused claimed he killed the women because they demanded more money after he had sex with them. Two of the victims were pregnant.

He was subsequently arrested following the discovery of the six bodies at his father’s panel beating workshop in Johannesburg.

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