South African police claim they know why British businessman Shrien Dewani allegedly killed his wife on their honeymoon in Cape Town.
Officers believe Mr Dewani commissioned two hitmen to kill Anni Dewani.
But although the national police commissioner told TV news his detectives have discovered what they believe was a motive, he would not reveal it.
General Bheki Cele said the alleged motive may be revealed at an extradition hearing in London tomorrow.
Mrs Dewani, 28, was killed on November 13 after the taxi she and her husband were travelling in was hijacked as it passed through Gugulethu, a township outside Cape Town.
Four South Africans have been arrested in connection with the crime and one sentenced to 18 years in jail, but police there insist the plot was “masterminded” by Mr Dewani.
Mr Dewani, who is on bail in Britain, denies all involvement. His supporters have pointed out that the South Africans have failed to provide even a flimsy motive. They believe naming Dewani as a suspect is a ploy to detract attention from South Africa’s appalling crime rate.
General Cele is a controversial figure in South Africa. A career politician, he had no policing experience before becoming chief of police last year.
Four days after Anni Dewani was killed he insisted that Mr Dewani was “not a suspect” in the case. He later admitted that he had been lying.
Days after Mr Dewani was formally named as a suspect, the policeman caused outrage by describing him as “a monkey who came all the way from London to murder his wife”.
On e.tv news channel on Tuesday, General Cele confirmed detectives have found an alleged motive, but said: “Until we are out there in the court, we can’t put out there what is our motive.
“I don’t think it will be really proper for me to come with the motive here.”
His comments are likely to be used by Mr Dewani’s defence team as evidence that he would not get a fair trial in South Africa.
Mr Dewani’s spokesman Max Clifford said: “Clearly the chief of police in South Africa has already tried and convicted Shrien weeks ago.”
The senior detective on the case, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Barkhuizen, is in London, where he has reportedly asked police for help. - Daily Mail