Cape Town -
A man on trial for Anni Dewani's murder was seen with one of her convicted killers the day she died, the Western Cape High Court heard on Thursday.
An old family friend of Zola Tongo, who was jailed for 18 years for his part in the murder, said she saw Tongo with a man she knew as “Watti” in Khayelitsha on the afternoon of November 13, 2010.
The elderly woman, who the court has ordered may not be identified, pointed to Xolile Mngeni in the dock and confirmed he was “Watti”.
Dewani was on honeymoon with her husband Shrien in Cape Town when she was killed in an apparent hijacking.
Tongo was the Dewanis' shuttle driver. Mngeni was fingered as the man who shot her. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder, and the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The witness told the court she was an old friend of Tongo's mother, Liziwe. She used to call Zola by his nickname, “Ponono”.
She testified she last saw Tongo in 2010, while walking to a party in Sidima Circle in Khayelitsha, around 3.30pm.
“As I took the corner... I saw a stationary car. Looking at the vehicle, I saw it was Ponono. He alighted from the car and came to me,” she said.
She asked Tongo why he was in Khayelitsha and he said he was visiting friends.
“I looked in the car and saw two people in the 1/8back of the 3/8 car. The one person I do not know, but the other was Watti.”
She said Tongo had been in the driver's seat of a “beige Combi-like” vehicle before getting out to greet her. Tongo used a silver VW Sharan to transport hotel guests around Cape Town.
The witness later made a statement to police and identified Tongo and Mngeni in an identity parade.
Shrien Dewani has been accused by various sources of masterminding his wife's murder and making it look like a hijacking. A previous witness and hotel receptionist confessed, in possible exchange for immunity, how he was the middleman in Dewani's so-called plot.
He alleged Dewani asked Tongo to organise a hitman. The shuttle driver then phoned the witness.
The witness testified he put Tongo in contact with a former co-worker, Mziwamadoda Qwabe. Qwabe was recently jailed for 25
years after pleading guilty to his part in the murder.
In his plea agreement, Qwabe said he contacted Mngeni on November 12, 2010, and told him someone wanted a “job” done.
He said he met Tongo the next day at Khaya Bazaar. They drove from the bazaar to Sidima Circle in Khayelitsha “where Watti joined us in Zola's vehicle”.
It was then that Mngeni was apparently told the plan.
The trial continues on Monday. - Sapa