The Johannesburg High Court has convicted Bafana Mahungela on all charges linked to the 2023 murder of pregnant Sandton teacher Kirsten Kluyts.
Mahungela was found guilty of murder, robbery, defeating the ends of justice and attempted rape.
Judge Ian Cox delivered the judgment on Friday after previously reserving his decision in the matter.
The case has been postponed to October 27 for arguments on sentencing.
Kluyts, who taught at Delta Park High School, was murdered on October 29, 2023, while participating in a local athletics event in Sandton.
Her body was later found abandoned along a jogging path in George Lea Park.
She was pregnant when she was killed.
Mahungela was 23 when he was arrested in November 2023 at a student residence in Parkmore.
Throughout the trial, he maintained his plea of not guilty to all the charges.
The State had charged him with kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder and attempted rape.
Among the evidence presented to the court was surveillance footage showing Mahungela wearing a black T-shirt and trousers before the murder.
Further footage captured him leaving the area around the crime scene wearing a blue T-shirt, which investigators identified as the same clothing Kluyts had been wearing earlier that morning.
He was also seen carrying a black object in his left hand.
Mahungela previously admitted that he had removed Kluyts’ clothes before leaving her naked in the bushes.
He claimed he had taken off her clothes while trying to remove fingerprints after attempting to “help” her.
Kluyts’ clothes were later recovered from a nearby drain.
Assault lasted eight minutes
A post-mortem examination established that Kluyts died as a result of blunt-force trauma to the head and strangulation.
The State told the court that the fatal assault lasted for about eight minutes.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Magaboke Mohlatlole previously said the court had partially delivered its judgment before postponing the matter to September 11, 2026.
Mohlatlole said the evidence and submissions before the court indicated that the trial had reached its final stage, with judgment expected the following week.
The court has now convicted Mahungela on every charge he faced.
The matter will return to court on October 27, when arguments on sentencing will be heard before the court determines the appropriate sentences for the offences.
Mahungela had continued to maintain his not-guilty plea throughout the trial.
