Dewani deconstructed

On Monday Shrien Dewani left the Western Cape High Court a free man. BINNE HUISMAN
examines the moments that brought the states case against the British businessman to its knees

Some wins for the state

And a litany of losses 

November 2010 In the days

after Anni Hindochas November
13 murder, Xolile Mngeni,
Mziwamadoda Qwabe and taxi
driver Zola Tongo are arrested
December 7 Tongo pleads
guilty. In his plea agreement, he
claims Dewani offered him
R15 000 to kill Anni. Dewani is
arrested in Bristol
December 8 Dewani appears
in a UK court and is kept in
custody as the extradition battle
starts

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October 29 Tongo is in the

dock and admits to making
mistakes in police
statements. Traverso later
describes him as a poor witness

April 8 He arrives in Cape Town on a

Gulfstream V private jet chartered for R2.9 million.
The department cites Dewanis peculiar medical
condition to explain the tax expense. He is detained in
the Valkenberg hospital instead of a prison, as part of
the NPAs deal with British authorities

October 8 Convicted gunman

Qwabe takes the stand. He says:
There was a husband who
wanted his wife to be killed.
October 14 Prosecutor Adrian
Mopp says emails show Dewani
was conicted about marriage

October 18 Mngeni dies of a

brain tumour in prison
October 27 Mopp says
Dewani told German prostitute
Leopold Leisser he was trying to
get out of his engagement to
Anni. But Traverso cuts this
testimony, ruling it irrelevant

January 31 2014 Dewani

loses his nal bid to stay in
Britain

October 6 The murder trial starts with a bombshell

from the defence. They conrm allegations that
Dewani is bisexual. They say he used gay prostitutes,
but he denies that he killed his wife. Later the defence
also admits he surfed gay fetish websites on his
honeymoon and within 48 hours of Annis death

October 14 Judge Jeanette

Traverso rules that evidence
about Dewanis sexuality is
inadmissable, in effect
scuppering the states initial
attempts to show motive

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November 6 Next on the

stand is hotel receptionist
Monde Mbolombo, said to be a
middleman in the plot. He also
admits to lying in police
statements
November 17 At the
conclusion of the states case,
defence counsel Advocate
Francois van Zyl applies for a
dismissal of the case against his
client
December 8 Traverso nds
Dewani not guilty, citing a lack
of evidence. She says: Ive heard
the Hindocha familys plight. But
Ive taken an oath to uphold the
rule of law. I cant let public
opinion inuence my judgment.
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