Cape Town - On the same day that he visited the morgue to identify his murdered bride, Shrien Dewani logged on to a gay dating website for almost two hours.
Internet records, included as part of the British businessman’s 32-page document of admissions, which emerged on Wednesday afternoon during the second day of his murder trial, show Dewani’s activity on the site Gaydar.net – a page for gay and bisexual men to chat, interact and ultimately meet – had already begun as soon as he and his wife Anni landed in Joburg on November 12, 2010.
According to the 34-year-old he had bought R115 of internet roaming data at OR Tambo International Airport and just minutes later logged on to the dating website. He visited the site twice, using the “Always On” internet services at the terminal for a few minutes as the couple waited for their connecting flight to Cape Town where they were set to spend their honeymoon.
The records go on to show activity on the site again, not even a day after his wife was found dead in the backseat of an abandoned taxi. He confirmed that he had signed into Gaydar.net from his laptop at the Cape Grace Hotel at around 1am on November 15.
In his plea explanation, he told the court that he was taken by police to view Anni’s body later that same day. He called it a “traumatic experience”.
That evening, records show he logged on to the website again. He also signed into the website Recon.com, which advertises itself as “the world’s largest website for men into fetish”.
The following day, between meeting Zola Tongo – the taxi driver convicted for his role in Anni’s murder – and leaving for Bristol, records show that Dewani visited both websites for around an hour.
According to the document, Dewani was a registered user on Gaydar under the profile name ASIANSUBGUY. The site is a worldwide network for gay and bisexual men, but women and couples are also allowed to set up profiles on the page.
In a blurb on its homepage the creators wrote: “Gaydar is free to cruise, chat and search. With millions of members and photo profiles from over 140 countries you’re never far from what you want, when you want it.”
However, a registration is required to interact with other users. Dewani said he had been registered on the site for over six years before he cancelled the membership on November 21, 2010, shortly after returning to the UK.
According to Leopold Leisser, a male prostitute working in Bristol, he had met Dewani through this website, a precursor to what he called “drug-fuelled” sex sessions for which he was paid to abuse the businessman.
Dewani had the same username on Recon.com, and was a premium member for the same period of time. He paid around R900 a month to have access to the site.
These admissions were filed shortly after Dewani delivered his plea explanation on Monday, which revealed that he was not only bisexual but had had a string of affairs with male prostitutes who he had met through dating websites such as Gaydar.
On Wednesday, Dewani sat in the dock for the second day of his trial, at which the court heard from Qwabe Mziwamadoda – one of the men convicted for killing Anni.
Journalists filed in quickly to take their seats in the courtroom as casual onlookers chattered in the public gallery.
Mziwamadoda was a small figure, flanked by two correctional services officers who loomed over the convicted hit man as they brought him to the stand. He stood awkwardly in his black tracksuit top, blinking underneath a pair of square spectacles, as prosecutor Adrian Mopp prepared to question him. Technical glitches with the microphone system derailed his initial attempts to recount events from four years ago.
Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso strained to hear him and eventually court was adjourned to sort out the problems. But after the short break there were still issues. He was speaking too fast, Dewani’s senior counsel advocate, Francois van Zyl complained.
Eventually, Mopp resorted to breaking up Mziwamadoda’s testimony, telling him to stop and start as everyone scribbled down what he said.
Qwabe’s testimony was similar to his plea explanation delivered almost three years ago when he confessed that he had been paid to carry out the hijacking and murder. He told the court that Zola Tongo – Dewani’s taxi driver at the time – had contacted him because he needed “someone to kill someone”.
As the convicted man spoke, Dewani was hunched over, scribbling down notes with a yellow pencil.
Qwabe described how they had staged the hijacking. How he and Xolile Mngeni, who had fired the bullet which killed Anni, had initially missed the first window to do the deed. But how later Tongo had contacted him and said that Dewani was insisting that it had to be done that night.
At this stage, Dewani shook his head and glanced up at the gallery before returning to his writing.
Qwabe described how he and Mngeni had waited at an intersection in Gugulethu, near Mzolis, for Tongo to arrive in his silver VW Sharan. When they spotted it, they ran to open the doors forcing Tongo into the backseat with Dewani and Anni.
Just down the road, they ordered the driver to get out the vehicle.
“He told us in Xhosa that he had left the money in the pouch behind the front passenger seat,” said Qwabe.
After speeding on the N2 and then into Khayelitsha, Dewani was ordered to step out of the car as well. Qwabe, under cross-examination, said he could not remember if he had been compliant or resisted.
They left him there, and sped further into the township. Somewhere along the way, Qwabe heard a shot.
“I got a shock, I asked (Mngeni) what he had done,” he told the court.
The gunman had had his weapon trained on Anni throughout the drive. Qwabe said he was surprised to hear the retort because neither of them had discussed how they were going to kill what he called “the wife”.
Under cross-examination, Qwabe clearly struggled. Van Zyl dug into him, asking him about the events of that night and the hit man mostly responded by saying he “could not recall” or “it is possible”.
“Anything is possible,” said Van Zyl, frustrated.
It also emerged that Qwabe had been assaulted by a police officer before making his confession, at least according to statements from his own murder trial.
On Thursday morning his cross-examination will continue and he is set to face even more probing questions about his role in the murder of Anni.
Dewani quickly disappeared back down into the bowels of the court, escorted by a pair of Correctional Services officers. His family stood up and spoke animatedly, court documents held tightly in their hands.
Cape Argus