‘The couple begged not to be killed’

SUPPLIED BY AMI DENBORG

Anni Dewani

A couple whose vehicle was hijacked in Gugulethu begged not to be killed, the Western Cape High Court has heard.

In a video shown in court on Tuesday, Xolile Mngeni was seen telling this to a police officer taking his statement on November 16, 2010.

He said he and a man named “Mawewe” hijacked a vehicle in Gugulethu on November 13, 2010, with a “white man and woman” sitting in the back seat.

“They said: ‘Please don’t kill us.’… They took out two phones and a camera. I told them: ‘You are not going to be killed.’”

The video was part of a trial within a trial, where the judge had to decide whether the State could admit the video as evidence in the trial. The defence had argued that the statement had been made under duress, and questioned the video’s authenticity.

Anni Dewani was killed in Gugulethu on November 13, 2010, in an apparent hijacking while on honeymoon with her husband, Shrien.

Mngeni has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Mngeni said in the video that he asked Mawewe: “What are we going to do with these two people?”

The alleged accomplice replied that he would separate the couple.

At this point, the “white man” apparently said he could not be dropped off alone because “this is his wife”. The vehicle came to a stop and Mawewe shouted at the man: “Voetsek, voetsek, get out, get out.”

His wife then started crying.

They drove off again and stopped a while later in Kuyasa. Mngeni said Mawewe tried to take a bag from the woman, but she held on to it.

He heard a gunshot, and asked Mawewe what had caused him to release it. The alleged accomplice told Mngeni he could not tell him what to do and they got into an argument.

The vehicle was abandoned in Ilitha Park.

The men saw two policemen and ran away, hiding the phones and camera in a bush, said Mngeni. – Sapa