Sifiso Mkhwanazi found guilty of rape and murder of six Zimbabwean sex workers

The Gauteng High Court sitting in Palm Ridge has found Sifiso Mkhwanazi guilty of killing six sex workers between April and October 2022.

Handing down judgment, High Court Judge Cassim Moosa said: “I reject the version of the accused as beyond false and find that the accused had acted with pre-meditation, planning and an informed intention to kill the deceased.

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“Further, having due regard to the totality of the evidence before this court, and the necessary inferences that may be drawn therefrom, I find that the accused did unlawfully have sexual intercourse with all the deceased.

“I further find that the accused did unlawfully and intentionally defeat and obstruct the course of justice by concealing the bodies of the deceased and obstructed the administration of justice.”

He was found guilty of rape and murder and obstructing the administration of justice.

In February, Mkhwanazi, through his lawyer, admitted to killing the sex workers.

He, however, denied the rape charges against him and the assertion that the murders were premeditated.

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Mkhwanazi was arrested in October 2022, after the discovery of bodies of six Zimbabwean sex workers at his father’s panel beating workshop in Selby, central Johannesburg.

The decomposed bodies were found after police were called to the building due to a foul smell that was emanating from one of the rooms.

One of the women was fatally shot in the head, while the remaining five were allegedly choked to death.

According to the police, two of the victims were pregnant.

Mkhwanazi was previously arrested for rape in June 2021, but the charge was later withdrawn.

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