/ 6 December 2010

Packed court but no fireworks at honeymoon murder case

The Wynberg court was packed to capacity on Monday as press and spectators waited to hear the identity of the fourth suspect in the murder case of Swedish newly-wed Anni Dewani, whose body was found in Khayelitsha last month.

But light will only be shed on the conspiracy that led to her murder in the Western Cape High Court proceedings, which start on Tuesday.

The “bombshell revelations” of taxi driver Zola Tonga, as punted in weekend newspapers around the country, failed to materialise when the trials of the three men accused of her murder were separated by the court.

The request for the trials to be separated was made by Rodney de Kock, head of the national prosecuting authority in the Western Cape.

The hearing of the plea and sentencing agreement signed between the state and Tongo, who drove Anni and her husband Shrien Dewani on the night of her murder last month, will now be unveiled in the high court.

The three accused stood in the dock as magistrate Jackie Redelinghuys explained the new arrangements to them.

Wearing a blue striped t-shirt, Xolile Mngeni waved and smiled at family and friends in the court, while both Mziwamadoda Qwabe and Tongo looked sombre.

Further investigation
The trial of Mngeni and Qwabe has been set down for February 25 next year and their cases are subject to further investigation.

It was agreed that the men would be held at Pollsmoor Prison until their court dates. No bail applications have been heard.

However, Tongo’s negotiations with the state could predetermine his sentence.

Redelinghuys also lifted the embargo placed on photographs of the accused being published as the identification parade had taken place.

The Dewani couple took a late-night detour through Gugulethu on the night of November 13.

Shrien Dewani claimed their taxi was hijacked by two armed men and Tongo was released unharmed. Dewani alleged he was later pushed out of a window of the vehicle. The part-time model’s body was found the next day in the back seat of the taxi, with a single bullet wound to her head.

Among those who were disappointed on Monday was Pedro Lindoor, who travelled from Mitchells Plain to hear a first-hand account of what happened to Anni Dewani in a murder case that has sent shockwaves around the world.

“The interest in this case is huge,” he explained. “I work for myself so I could come here to listen to the plot behind this murder.”

Like many other interested members of the public, Lindoor might travel to Cape Town on Tuesday in the hope of hearing details about the plot that led to the murder of a young bride in court.