Africa-Press – South-Africa. The family of slain Matwetwe actor Sibusiso Khwinana was left disappointed and hurt when sentencing proceedings against his killer Julius Lucas stalled due to the unavailability of a Swahili interpreter.
Khwinana’s family hoped to finally close a painful chapter in their lives as Lucas appeared in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Monday.
Lucas was found guilty of murdering Khwinana during a robbery outside of Sterland Mall in Arcadia, Pretoria, in 2019.
He needed an interpreter as he is a Tanzanian national.
A senior interpreter who manages interpreters at the High Court took the stand to explain why the Swahili interpreter was not present, despite the State and defence being ready to proceed with sentencing arguments.
She explained that the Swahili interpreter informed her on Sunday evening that he would not be in court as he was attending a course outside of Gauteng.
She said they could not secure the services of another Swahili interpreter fully conversant in English and Swahili.
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“Justice will be delayed from the language section,” she told the court.
Judge Portia Phahlane asked why the Swahili interpreter initially confirmed the date, but then “decided to abandon” the court.
No answer was forthcoming.
The matter was subsequently postponed to 20 April.
Following the court appearance, Khwinana’s uncle, Benjamin Khwinana, expressed his disappointment at the postponement.
“We thought today [Monday] would be the last day so we can move on with what happened. We thought we would close the chapter; it’s been hard on the family,” Benjamin said.
While the family were happy that Lucas had been convicted, they wanted the sentence to be meted out before moving on with their lives.
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News24 reported in February that Lucas was found guilty of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and contravening the Immigration Act as he was in South Africa illegally.
In her judgment, Phahlane rejected Lucas’s version that he was at home on the evening of the murder.
She accepted the evidence of the witnesses who placed Lucas at the scene and told the court Khwinana was stabbed after he ran after Lucas, who had snatched his cellphone moments earlier.
According to the post-mortem, Khwinana was stabbed in the heart and died before paramedics arrived at the scene.
“The evidence shows that the deceased lost his life to the accused,” Phahlane said.
Khwinana died a gruesome death at the hands of Lucas, who showed no regard for human life, she added.
Phahlane said the State had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
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