Interpreter finally found for trial into slaying of 'Matwetwe' actor Sibusiso Khwinana

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Pretoria - The family of slain Matwetwe actor Sibusiso Khwinana say they are dismayed that a year will pass without justice for the actor. Nonetheless, they said they understood delays caused by having to find an appropriate Kiswahili court interpreter. The issue of not finding an interpreter has resulted in the delay of the trial, which was meant to start last week. The family waited with bated breath for the murder trial to commence the whole of last week. He was killed in March last year during a cellphone robbery. The suspect made a brief appearance on Friday, and the case was postponed to March 26.

Even then, the family should wait to be informed by the investigation officer who is handling the case whether or not the available interpreter's papers have been verified.

Nelson Khwinana, the late actor's father, expressed his frustration at the delay: “On March 1 it will be exactly a year since he was stabbed, but the case hasn't gotten anywhere.

“We understand what caused the delays but it is just not fair from our side as a family, we want the justice our son deserves.”

The father said they initially fought against attempts to set the trial for May as they needed to finally put the matter to rest and start healing.

“It is really hard to cope with this matter. At first they said they were scheduling it for May because the suspect's lawyer did not have papers to represent him at high court, and we said but no. Why wasn't that dealt with all along,” the father said.

The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, apologised to the family, friends and State witnesses for delays in the trial, caused by a lack of a Kiswahili translator. When the trial was supposed to commence at the beginning of last week, the accused, of foreign nationality, was without his private lawyer.

By the time the National Prosecuting Authority appointed a Legal Aid lawyer for him, there was no interpreter who could communicate with him.

“We asked why they couldn't use the one from the magistrate's court who was initially translating, but were told he wasn't qualified to be transferred to the high court.”

A very sincere Judge Papi Mosopa apologised to the court, stating that unfortunately these delays could not be avoided as it would be unfair to put a man on trial who did not understand the medium of communication.

According to the court, the accused spoke Kiswahili, but since the Nguni languages could be the same but spoken differently, the court sought an appropriate translator for the accused.

The State assured the crowd that the appropriate interpreter was found and an urgent process to check and verify his papers was under way.

Judge Mosopa assured the gallery that the trial would start on Friday and there would not be anymore delays in the matter.

But it was once again postponed while they still verified the papers.

Pretoria News