Newlyweds Anni and Shrien Dewani were having supper at a restaurant in the Strand when he took a moment to ensure hitmen he ordered were ready to kill her, according to their driver.
Zola Robert Tongo said that before entering the restaurant, Dewani told him that “he wanted the job done that night”.
Dewani then walked his wife to a chauffeured car which transported the couple to a predetermined spot in Gugulethu where they were hijacked – a crime he allegedly orchestrated to cover his tracks in setting up her murder.
Hours before this, the simulated hijacking had failed because the hitmen had not arrived at the spot.
This is what emerged in the Western Cape High Court yesterday when documents detailing the plea and sentencing agreement of Tongo, 31, the chauffeur who drove Shrien and Anni Dewani around when they were in the city for their honeymoon, were read out.
Cape Judge President John Hlophe sentenced Tongo, who was charged with murder, robbery with aggravated circumstances, kidnapping and obstructing the administration of justice, to an effective 18 years behind bars.
The obstructing the administration of justice charge stemmed from Tongo initially giving police a different affidavit, claiming he and Shrien Dewani were victims of a hijacking.
Anni’s father, Vinod Hindocha, sat in the front of the courtroom and wept silently as he listened to Tongo’s sentencing. Hindocha, sitting between his brother Ashok and a brother-in-law, clutched an A4-sized colour picture of his daughter.
As Judge Hlophe finished reading out Tongo’s sentence, Hindocha sighed and bowed his head staring at the picture.
Tongo, who moments before had wiped his eyes, tried to cover his head as photographers jostled to take pictures of him as he walked from the dock.
Outside the court, Hindocha, surrounded by police officers trying to keep reporters and photographers from pushing into him, briefly addressed the media.
“Thank you to everyone, for the messages, e-mails and condolences. We’ve been treated well in South Africa,” he said before being led to an awaiting car.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said there was a possibility Shrien Dewani may be extradited.
But because this formed part of investigations he did not want to comment further.
Yesterday police said they were working with the NPA and other departments to investigate the case in a co-ordinated manner.
National police commissioner Bheki Cele said: “In the process we will follow all prescripts of the law with due regard to local and international protocols.”
Yesterday during court proceedings details of Shrien Dewani’s alleged involvement in his wife’s murder were revealed.
In a list of substantial facts included in Tongo’s plea agreement and in his own words, he said on November 12 after giving Shrien and Anni a lift from the airport to the Cape Grace Hotel, Shrien Dewani approached him.
“After we arrived at the hotel, Shrien Dewani approached me alone and asked me if he knew anyone that could ‘have a client of his taken off the scene’. After some discussion with him I understood that he wanted someone, a woman, killed. He said he was willing to pay an amount of R15 000,” Tongo’s submission read.
He said Dewani asked if he knew where he could exchange US dollars for rands without producing his passport.
Tongo said later on November 12 he approached a friend, Monde Mbolombo, to find out if he knew anyone who would carry out the killing Shrien Dewani wanted.
He said Mbolombo put him in contact with Mzwiwamadoda Qwabe, the second man arrested in Dewani’s murder and who is in Pollsmoor Prison until his court appearance next year.
Tongo said on November 13 Shrien Dewani contacted and arranged to meet him at noon when Tongo took him to a shop in Greenmarket Square to exchange his dollars.
“On the way back to the hotel he told me how he wanted the offence to be committed. Shrien Dewani and I agreed that the offence would be perpetrated by enlisting the assistance of other parties to conceal the true nature of the offence. We could make it appear as if we were the victims of a random armed hijacking... The agreement was that after the ‘hijacking’ of the vehicle, both Shrien Dewani and I would be ejected from the vehicle unharmed,” Tongo said.
During the afternoon Tongo met Qwabe and Xolile Mngeni, the third suspect in the case and who is expected to appear in court again next year with Qwabe, and together they planned how the simulated hijacking would unfold.
On the evening of November 13 Tongo drove Shrien and Anni Dewani around the city before proceeding to the intersection of NY112 and NY108 in Gugulethu where the planned hijacking was supposed to happen. But Qwabe and Mngeni were not there so Tongo drove to Strand where the couple had supper at the Surfside restaurant.
“Prior to entering the restaurant Shrien Dewani asked me what was happening and said he wanted the job done that night.”
While the Dewanis were dining, Tongo said Qwabe called to say they had missed him in Gugulethu.
More phone calls were made and a new time for the “hijacking” was decided on. Before leaving Strand after the couple’s supper, Tongo said Shrien Dewani contacted him wanting to know if the hitmen were ready. Tongo confirmed this.
He said either on his way to or from Somerset West with the couple, he had SMSed Shrien Dewani reminding him of the payment and Shrien Dewani responded via SMS saying the money was in an envelope in a pouch behind the front passenger seat.
Later the “hijacking” happened on the corner of NY112 and NY108 in Gugulethu. He said he was ordered from the car near the Gugulethu police barracks.
Anni Dewani was later shot in the neck and her body left in the car which was abandoned in Khayelitsha.
Three days after Dewani’s murder Tongo said he met Shrien Dewani at the Cape Grace Hotel where he received R1 000 for helping to orchestrate the murder. Four days later Tongo handed himself over to police.