Judge irked by delays in Bozwana killers’ sentencing
Defence expert witness calls in sick
The judge presiding over the case of four men convicted for the murder of North West businessman Wandile Bozwana voiced his frustration yesterday after postponing sentencing proceedings yet again due to the unavailability of a defence expert witness.
Taxi boss Vusi “Khekhe” Mathibela and his co-accused Sipho Hudla‚ Matamela Mutapa and Bonginkosi Paul Khuall malo were back in court for the continuation of sentencing proceedings.
“According to the constitution‚ the accused are entitled to a speedy finalisation of their matter‚ but there has been problem after problem with this case‚” judge Papi Mosopa said.
“This case has been ongoing since 2017‚ and there is no single day that I was absent. Even when there were deaths in my family‚ I remained committed.
“I hope this is the last postponement I grant on this matter. I don’t wish and hope that it goes to 2024.”
The four were convicted in June last year of murdering Bozwana and attempting to murder his business partner‚ Mpho Baloyi‚ on the Garsfontein off-ramp in Tshwane in October 2015.
There have been several delays in their sentencing proceedings. Yesterday, the case had to be postponed again as the defence expert witness was not available in court because she was sick.
Mosopa was not satisfied with the explanation given by the defence and questioned if they had consultations with her before Monday to check if was still in order for her appearance.
The defence said no‚ they only discovered she was ill when she did not arrive in court.
State prosecutor Adv Jennifer Cronje questioned the conduct of the defence‚ saying it seemed of the three attorneys‚ only one was in communication with the witness.
“It’s common cause the expert is for all witnesses. The state finds it shocking the only counsel that went to the trouble to convey the contents of the court order to the defence witness is Mr [Gerhard] Botha. The state requests a warrant to be issued.”
Mosopa issued a warrant of arrest for the witness‚ which will be held over till the next court appearance on July 19.