‘Waiting for her to come home’ – slain sex worker’s family still reeling

Mkhwanazi was arrested in October 2022 following the discovery of six bodies, in varying stages of decomposition, at his father's car repairs workshop in Rosettenville. 

Sex workers and anti-GBV organisations filled the gallery alongside the relatives and colleagues of the six slain women.

In his admission, Mkhwanazi said he shot Nyarai in the head at close range with his father’s gun and then hid her body in a black trolley bin in the workshop yard.  

Nyarai’s cell phone was found in her killer’s possession when he was arrested.

During his evidence in chief, investigating officer Sergeant Bongani Mbonambi told the court that DNA testing was conducted to compare samples taken from Nyarai and her daughter Pauline.

Pauline also told the police that the cell phone they had shown her looked eerily like her mother’s.

READ MORE: Cell phone, DNA identify 3 of Mkhwanazi’s alleged victims

Speaking outside court on Wednesday, under the supervision of an adult guardian, Nyarai’s 16-year-old daughter said after viewing the body the first time, they refused to believe it was her.

“We went to where she works, and then we received a call that there were bodies which were found, and we should come and check if she’s amongst them. We did identify them, but we said that she was not there.

“We went to the mortuary; that’s when they did DNA tests, and we saw that, okay, she was part of the six bodies. We didn’t want to believe it. She told us she was coming back home. We were waiting for her to come home — not get her while she’s dead.”

Now orphaned, she said two of them had been left in her sister’s care.

“We are five, but we lost one [sibling] last year December. Three of us stay on this side, and one is at home [in Zimbabwe].

“It’s an indescribable pain. We can’t even understand how we feel. It’s tough because she was the breadwinner. She was mother and father because we lost our father when we were still young,” the teenager adds that they didn’t know what their mother did for a living until she was killed.

 ‘WHY DID HE KILL MY SISTER?’

Grace Moyo last saw her sister Joyce in October 2022, a week before news of the grim discovery of the six bodies made headlines.

Mkhwanazi admitted to strangling Joyce Moyo before tying a cloth over her mouth, nose, and neck.

Moyo said she didn’t know that her sister, who was 35 when she died, made her living as a sex worker.

“To us, as the family, she was selling Herbal Life products. We were shocked when we heard that she was a sex worker. We didn’t believe it until it was revealed in court that she was a sex worker. It was sad hearing that she died while working on the streets.”

Somewhat comforted by the guilty verdict, Moyo said she had been giving her family in Zimbabwe updates on the trial.

She said she had been struggling to explain to her sister’s three children, who are between the ages of seven and 19, why their mother was killed.

“If I were given a chance to meet with Mkhwanazi, I would ask him why he killed my sister. I would ask him [to tell me] who will look after my sister’s children. Her children are very young, their mother looked after them.”

During closing arguments, the state reiterated its allegation that Mkhwanazi targeted Zimbabwean nationals to get revenge for the 2021 rape claim, which was made by a Zimbabwean sex worker, that kept him behind bars for ten months before the charge was dropped.

READ MORE: Sifiso Mkhwanazi trial: Sex worker tells court of victim’s meeting with accused

The judge ordered that Mkhwanazi must undergo mental observation at the Sterkfontein Hospital to determine if he is a danger to society.

The matter was postponed to 8 May for pre-sentencing proceedings.

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