Cape Town - One of Anni Dewani's convicted killers described the last few moments of her life after she and her husband Shrien were hijacked.
Convicted killer Mziwamadoda QwabeQwabe, 27, told the Western Cape High Court on Monday that he and the alleged gunman on trial, Xolile Mngeni, were dropped off in Gugulethu on the evening of November 13, 2010, to make the hit.
He said they were left at NY112 road and walked to “the agreed intersection” of NY112 and NY108.
There they lay in wait for the Dewanis' shuttle vehicle, as agreed to by shuttle driver Zola Tongo.
“I was urinating against the fence, when one of us shouted:
'Here, the vehicle is coming'. The accused stopped the vehicle and pointed a firearm on the driver's side,” he told the court.
They forced driver Tongo, who was jailed for 18 years for his part in the murder, into the back seat of the vehicle.
Mngeni said he drove the silver VW Sharan “very fast” towards Khayelitsha.
Mngeni sat in the front passenger seat. Anni Dewani sat in the back behind the driver. Her husband was in the middle and Tongo was next to him.
The Dewanis were on their honeymoon in Cape Town in November 2010, when Anni was killed in an apparent hijacking.
Tongo was serving an 18 year jail term as part of a plea agreement while Qwabe was sentenced to an effective 25 years in jail for his part in the murder.
Mngeni has pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder, and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Qwabe said he asked for Tongo's phone and dropped off Tongo at the intersection of NY1 and NY111. Before he got out the car, Tongo told them the money for the hit was in the cubby hole behind the front passenger seat.
The car then sped through the Nkanini informal settlement and into the Kuyasa township, where Shrien was dropped off and told to go to one of the houses nearby. The car drove off again.
“While driving between Ilitha Park and Ndlovini, I heard a gunshot,” Qwabe said.
The men stopped the vehicle in Ilitha Park, looked for the bullet casing and ran off into the night.
Qwabe said Anni Dewani was lying dead on the back seat.
They discarded a small lady's bag and counted the money for the hit when far away.
“We found it was R10 000. Not R15 000. We split it in half. He also showed me another stash of cash which I think he got from the husband... We counted - it was R4000 and something.”
Mngeni also showed him two Blackberry cellphones and a brown Nokia, as well as a silver digital camera.
A gun, ammunition, a cellphone, watch and bracelet lay on a table in front of Qwabe as he testified. He pointed out the gun as the one used to kill Dewani.
Anni's father Vinod Hindocha sat in on the trial on Monday.
He sat with his fists tightly clenched as he followed proceedings. Hindocha and a woman from the family were wearing a photo of the slain honeymooner on their chests.
The photo, edged with pink ribbon, showed a smiling and relaxed Anni.
Hindocha sat on the edge of his seat as Qwabe was called to the stand.
The father held his hand over his mouth and then wiped away a few tears as Qwabe described how Anni's husband allegedly organised her murder. - Sapa