The law enforcement officer accused of fatally shooting a homeless man in January this year, will be back in the dock for trial in the Wynberg Regional Court next year.
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Luvolwethu Kati (23) made a brief appearance on Thursday on charges of murdering Dumisani Joxo on 9 January.
Last week, the 23-year-old’s advocate, Rukia Allie, told the court that they were ready to proceed with trial and planned on submitting expert statements and a pathologist’s report. Allie added that the defence intended to call a witness to the stand.
In April, the state told the court that it was still in the process of investigating the matter. By the next appearance, in mid-June, this investigation had still not been concluded, as the pathology report was still outstanding.
The matter was then transferred to the Regional Court by Magistrate Gulam Bower, on 29 July, where it was heard before Magistrate Heather Paulse in August.
At this hearing, the advocate for the accused, John Riley, told the court that they had engaged the services of another pathologist to examine the report provided by the state pathologist. This resulted in another request for a postponement for the defence to examine the state pathologist’s report. The matter was postponed to Friday, 21 October and before a date was set for Thursday.
At the time of his death, Joxo was living near the Liesbeek River Trail in Rondebosch, in a settlement that is home to about a dozen people.
According to the prosecution, the accused and a colleague arrived at the scene in January in response to a complaint that a group of homeless people were cooking a meal over an open fire.
As they arrived, Kati allegedly asked the man preparing the meal to extinguish his fire, but the man refused. He apparently told the officers that he was hungry and was boiling water to prepare food for the day.
The prosecution said that, according to witnesses, Kati then kicked over the man’s pot, resulting in an argument between the 23-year-old accused and the deceased.
A scuffle then broke out. Joxo was shot in the mouth and died shortly after.
Kati’s trial is set to begin on Monday, 13 February 2023.
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