Slaughterhouse, underwear, used condoms: Inside sex workers' murder trial

A room in which a sex worker's body was discovered at Sifiso Mkhwanazi's father’s workshop was used as a “slaughterhouse” to kill sex workers between April and October 2022.

This was the conclusion of the police team which investigated the murders of six sex workers whose bodies, in varying stages of decomposition, were found in different places at Mark Khumalo’s (Mkhwanazi’s father) workshop.

One of the lead investigators, Det Sgt Prince Bongani Mbonambi, testified on Wednesday in the Johannesburg high court, sitting in Palm Ridge, that comparisons were made on three different bodies that were not found in the room. 

“These are different bodies which were not found in this particular room but rather concealed somewhere behind in the building.

“The conclusion that we came up with is that this room was used as a slaughterhouse and later on the bodies would be removed,” he told the court.

Mbonambi said there was blood on the stairway leading to the room, indicating the bodies were dragged downstairs from the room.

“One could see that somebody tried cleaning the blood, but our experts were able to retrieve that blood. A caretaker once found the stairs wet. That day, the cleaner told him it was Mkhwanazi who had cleaned the stairs. So, we can confirm that three or more bodies were killed in this room,” he said.

He told the court that when the cleaner was employed at the workshop, she used to clean the room but stopped after realising it was no longer in use.

During his testimony, the state's first witness, Michael Damian, a caretaker at the workshop, told the court the office which the detective described as a room on the first floor was dark as there was no electricity. He was using the torch on his cellphone to see when he discovered a body on the floor.

Mbonambi testified Mkhwanazi had admitted to killing the women but denied he planned the murders.

He said as much as they appreciated that he had made the admissions, shortening the trial, they still believed the murders were premeditated.

“If this was one murder, we would have given the benefit of the doubt. The bodies could have been at the workshop between three to six months. We don't accept Mkhwanazi's claims that he left one of the bodies to be easily found. After killing a person, he concealed the body. 

“You need to transport the bodies to the places where they are hidden. Wheelie bins were his mode of transport. Some bodies were (found) inside those bins. He didn't have a mode of transport to move the bodies except wheelie bins,” Mbonambi said. 

Mbonambi said the pictures of the scene in a photo album told the best story of what happened.

“His [Mkhwanazi's] explanation of how he killed the deceased is that he strangled them, tied a rope around their neck, and he still maintained it was not planned. When comparing the photo albums to Mkhwanazi’s admissions don't make sense. 

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The bodies were found with their legs, hands and mouths bound, he testified.

“ If you have killed a person by strangulation, why would you go and tie hands to the back, tie her legs? This is a lifeless body. There is no need to tie it up. You've already killed the person,” said Mbonambi.

He said it was possible the accused would tie up the victims in that way to enable him to “rape them not once but repeatedly as they [victims] couldn't run and they couldn't scream”. 

“The amount of used condoms we found on the scene, it makes logical sense for what we are saying. Therefore the accused is the one who gave admissions but his admissions are vague. They lack a lot of details. And we don’t believe he's been entirely truthful.

“Another thing that we find very strange: the accused says the murders were not planned. If this was one murder, the benefit of the doubt would be given to him. We know from his admission that he says he was very angry after being incarcerated wrongfully.” 

Mkhwanazi said he had previously spent 10 months in prison after a sex worker accused him of rape, but later withdrew the “false” allegation.

Mbonambi told the court that one would have expected Mkhwanazi to stay away from doing any business with sex workers when he came out of prison if this was the case.

Instead, he returned to the streets, picked up a sex worker and went to his father’s workshop.

“Even though he says the sex was consensual, he was still angry. It happened there was a disagreement after they had sex, then he had to kill her because he feared the thought of going back to prison. He then concealed the body. 

“Let’s accept the first killing was a mistake, what was his reaction after his first kill? He goes back to the same street. It was like he was going to a fish pond, picking a fish exactly that you want.”

Mbonambi said Mkhwanazi went out and picked up the second sex worker, killed her and  concealed the body. 

“He goes to another fishpond and picks up the third person.

“He did that to six people. He wants the court to believe it wasn't premeditated? We reject that. These murders were planned,” said Mbonambi.

One of the victims, Chihota Nyarai, was shot dead.

Mkhwanazi’s father previously testified he stored his gun in a safe and kept the key to the safe with him at all times.

In his admissions, Mkhwanazi said he took a gun from his father’s safe which was at the workshop.

Mbonambi told the court that Khumalo’s gun and that of another person which were kept in a single safe at the workshop were taken in for ballistic testing.

“We didn't have any evidence for comparison. We didn't have a cartridge from the scene. We didn't expect anything regarding that aspect. The two guns were never linked to any deceased.” 

The state asked about the disagreements allegedly triggered by sex workers demanding money. Mbonambi said they did not find money on any of the victims' bodies.

“It could be that he robbed them after killing them,” said Mbonambi

Mkhwanazi was arrested last October and charged with six counts of murder, seven of rape, six of defeating or obstructing the administration of justice, robbery with aggravating circumstances and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. 

He pleaded not guilty to all charges but admitted to killing the women. He made an admission in terms of section 220 of the Criminal Procedure Act. He denied raping the women, alleging it was consensual sex which he paid for. He denied planning the murders.     

The court was adjourned when defence lawyer Vuyo Maqetuka said he was ill and needed medical help.

The trial is expected to resume on Monday with the defence cross-examining Mbonambi. 

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