Police sources say British millionaire Shrien Dewani has returned to South Africa to identify the men suspected of shooting and killing his wife Anni after a hijacking in Gugulethu.
As rumours abound about the honeymoon murder, police sources close to the case said Dewani, 30, flew into Cape Town on Friday ahead of an identity parade on Saturday, before the case continues on Monday in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court.
It is believed police want to question Dewani further after letting him return to Britain to bury his wife.
Dewani’s lawyer Billy Gundelfinger denied that his client was in South Africa. He said his client had neither been requested to return to South Africa nor had done so voluntarily.
Police crime intelligence spokeswoman Tummi Shai said last night: “We are not saying he is coming and we are not saying he isn’t coming. We said at the press conference that we’re after the big fish. And soon he will tell you himself what he has done. For now though we are not commenting.”
Following the November 13 murder, swift police work led to arrests of shuttle taxi driver Zola Tongo, 31, Xolile Mngeni, 23 and Mziwamadoda Qwabe, 25, on charges of murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping. Tongo has told the court that he wants to enter into a plea deal with the State.
All the suspects will appear on Monday when the State hopes to finalise the driver’s plea and sentencing agreement.
According to the charge sheet, “the murder was planned and premeditated… acting in the furtherance of a common purpose of conspiracy”.
This week, Dewani hired South African divorce and celebrity lawyer Gundelfinger to represent him in this country and Britain’s top PR firm Max Clifford amid his concerns that he was being set up by South African police to be blamed for his wife’s brutal slaying.
In a statement issued through Clifford, Shrien’s brother Preyen Dewani said: “He (Shrien) is fully aware of the false accusations and the possibility that by attaching blame to him the people may divert this matter away from concerns over the security of South Africa. Both the Dewani and Hindocha family want to see justice being done and as you can imagine it is a difficult time for everyone.”
But Dewani has in the days since the murder made contradictory statements to British tabloid The Sun regarding what happened.
He first told the paper they went into the township because Anni wanted to see the “real Africa”. Days later he told the tabloid that the driver had advised them to go to see some “African dancing” in Gugulethu.
Meanwhile, in this week’s You magazine Anni’s two siblings spoke of their loss and shock and how she spent months planning every detail of her wedding to her fiancé. There were five ceremonies over three days in Mumbai in India and a guest list of 300 people. She had travelled to India to make the arrangement before the wedding and the poverty she saw upset her and led to her make generous donations to orphanages.
The couple had met 13 months before in England when Anni was visiting relatives. She lived in Sweden.
“It was love at first sight,” her sister, Ami Denborg, 33, an engineer in Stockholm, told You. “We were very close. We shared all our secrets and got up to a lot of mischief together.”
She loved parties and showered people with gifts. “She was beautiful inside and out; although she was not materialistic her flat in Stockholm was furnished with only the best. “
Anni’s younger brother, Anish Hindocha, 22, an engineering student, told You how protective and “loving” Anni was. “If someone upset me she didn’t think twice about giving them a piece of her mind.” She always ended a message with, “I love you more than anyone else in the world.” - Weekend Argus