Pretoria - Come January 28 and the family of Soshanguve-born actor Sibusiso Khwinana will finally know the fate of the man who has been accused of stabbing and killing the star outside Sterland Mall in 2019.
Khwinana and a friend had just been to the cinema inside Sterland, where they had watched the locally produced Matwetwe movie, when, outside the centre as they waited for transport, Khwinana was accosted by someone who tried to steal his cellphone.
Yesterday, defence for Tanzanian national Julius Lucas, who stands accused of stabbing Khwinana to death outside Sterland in Sunnyside, Pretoria, indicated it would be calling its own witness to corroborate his whereabouts.
However, he had a change of heart and indicated he would not be calling any more witnesses or leading evidence for his defence.
The State alleged that on March 1, 2019, Lucas accosted Khwinana and forcefully grabbed his cellphone and ran away.
Lucas was allegedly pursued by Khwinana, who caught up with him and a struggle for the cellphone ensued, during which Lucas produced a knife or similar sharp object and stabbed the actor in the chest.
Lucas was said to have fled and left Khwinana to die on the scene as a result of the stab wound to the heart.
For his part, Lucas maintained that on that day he had set up his products, as he worked as a vendor not far from Sterland.
He alleged that he closed his shop around 6.30pm and made his way home to his apartment in Arcadia at about 7pm.
The State revealed that Lucas had come to South Africa in 2003 with a passport and upon its expiry had applied for an asylum seeker’s permit.
The State advocate, however, said that Lucas was deterred from applying for further permits due to corruption at the Department of Home Affairs and repeated payment demanded by officials.
According to the Tanzanian national, payments for permits ranged between R1 500 and R2 500. However, the last time he had gone to the department was in 2017, and he was instead using a police affidavit to get by.
He is charged with murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and contravention of the Immigration Act.
The State and defence are due to hand over their heads of arguments before or on January 12, with the matter to return to court on January 28.
The judge indicated that she would afford both parties the opportunity to address the court.
Pretoria News