Man sentenced to 25 years for honeymoon murder

One of two men accused of being hired by a British newlywed to kill his bride on their honeymoon in Cape Town has been jailed for 25 years after admitting murder.

Victim Anni Dewani’s family reacted by saying they were “happy” but would not know the truth of “what really happened” until Shrien Dewani travels to South Africa to face trial. He has previously pledged to fight to clear his name.

Mrs Dewani, 28, was shot dead and her body found in an abandoned taxi in Cape Town’s Gugulethu township in Nov 2010.

South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority said yesterday that Mziwamadoda Qwabe also admitted kidnapping, robbery, and the illegal possession of a firearm.

South African national Xolile Mngeni still faces charges over the killing, and her husband remains in medical care pending a decision to extradite him to South Africa.

Mrs Dewani’s uncle Ashok Hindocha said: “We are just happy. Two of the accused have now pleaded guilty.

“Now we want to know what really happened to Anni, why they killed her.”

Dewani, a care home owner from Bristol, is due at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Sep 18 when the chief magistrate will be given an update on his condition. Last month, counsel for Dewani Clare Montgomery argued that her client would need 12 months to recover before being able to cope with the extradition process.

She said Dewani, who is deemed a suicide risk, was making a slow recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and one damaging factor was his “constant awareness of the court proceedings”.

She said he was taking anti-depressants on the advice of his psychiatrist, who believed his depression and PTSD were of moderate severity and had discernibly decreased.

After being hijacked with his wife, Dewani was ejected from the car but she was driven away and murdered.

In March, the High Court ruled that it would be “unjust and oppressive” to extradite Dewani to South Africa because of his illness. But they said he should be extradited in the interests of justice “as soon as he is fit”.

Dewani was allowed to leave South Africa before a confession by taxi driver Tongo. He said Dewani offered him 15,000 rand (about €1,500) to arrange the killing and make it look like a carjacking.

In a plea to avoid a life sentence, Tongo pleaded guilty and was convicted of kidnapping, murder, aggravated robbery, and obstructing justice.

He was sentenced to 18 years in prison, and is expected to give evidence at trial.