Cape Town - The man who says he was contracted to kill Swedish bride Anni Dewani says he “got a shock” when he heard the gunshot go off.
“The car was in motion. After the shot ... that's when I decided to stop the car,” he said.
The next moment his accomplice confirmed that Anni had been hit.
Mziwamadoda Qwabe was testifying in the trial of British businessman Shrien Dewani, who stands accused of orchestrating the murder of his newlywed wife.
Qwabe is currently serving 25 years in jail after he pleaded guilty to the murder in 2012 and implicated Dewani as the mastermind.
He took the court back to November 2010, saying that Zola Tongo, who has also been jailed for the murder, contacted him after receiving his number from a mutual friend.
Tongo said that “someone wanted someone to be killed”.
They arranged to meet the following day at the Khaya Bazaar shopping centre in Khayelitsha.
He took Xolile Mngeni, who has also been jailed for the murder, along.
There the three of them discussed the murder.
Tongo told them that it was a husband who wanted his wife to be killed and that it should be made to look like a hijacking.
They agreed that the hijacking should take place near Mzoli's in Gugulethu and that Tongo and the husband should not be hurt.
Qwabe had an illegal 9mm firearm, which he decided would be used in the attack.
The following evening, November 13, 2010, the plan went awry when he and Mngeni struggled to find transport and arrived late.
But Tongo contacted him to say that he was on his way to Somerset West to take the couple to a restaurant and would return later to the same agreed spot.
Their second attempt yielded results.
As Qwabe received an SMS from Tongo confirming that they were close by, he saw the car approaching.
Mngeni had the gun and Tongo was ordered to get into the back seat while Qwabe got into the driver's seat. Mngeni sat in the passenger seat.
“He told them to keep quiet and not to try anything,” he said.
Tongo was kicked out of the vehicle a short distance away.
They also kicked the husband out in Khayelitsha and told him to report the incident to someone in the nearby residential area.
After Anni Dewani had been killed, Qwabe and Mngeni looked for the bullet casing in the rear of the vehicle.
They did not bother to check whether or not she was still alive.
They threw away the bullet casing in a nearby drain and Qwabe discarded the yellow gloves he had worn during the incident.
When they counted the money that had been left for them in a pouch in the front passenger's side, it amounted to R10 000. Qwabe said they had agreed that the job would be done for R15 000.
In terms of a plea and sentence agreement he had entered into with the State in August 2012, Qwabe agreed to testify on behalf of the State.
He is the second State witnesses to be called since Dewani pleaded not guilty to the murder and five other charges on Monday.
IOL