SMS clues to ‘hijack’ before Anni’s killing

CONVICTED murderer Zola Tongo sent an SMS to British murder accused Shrien Dewani about an hour before Dewani and his new wife, Anni, were “hijacked” in Gugulethu, Cape Town.

The SMS is among cellphone messages and calls between Dewani and his chauffeur in the 20 hours leading up to Anni’s murder in November 2010.

These calls and text messages are expected to form a vital part of the state’s case when Dewani’s murder trial gets under way. But the police are keeping mum on the information contained in text messages and phone calls.

The couple were honeymooning in Cape Town when they were hijacked at about 11pm on November 13 2010.

Dewani and Tongo were allegedly forced out of the vehicle and Anni’s body was discovered in Khayelitsha early the next day.

The police believe the hijacking was staged.

In support of its case, the state has lined up a Londonbased male escort, who claims to have slept with Dewani, to testify in support of its allegations that Dewani arranged the murder of his bride in order to get out of their marriage because he is gay.

Dewani was extradited to South Africa last month and was charged with Anni’s murder.

He is now undergoing psychiatric examination at Valkenberg Hospital in Cape Town and is due to appear in court again on June 20.

Tongo and his accomplices, Mziwamadoda Qwabe and shooter Xolile Mngeni, have been convicted of murder.

Tongo and Qwabe entered into plea agreements with the state and are expected to testify at Dewani’s trial.

According to court papers, on the night of Anni Dewani’s murder:

Detailed cellphone billing showed that Tongo called Qwabe at 9.59pm and after this Tongo texted Dewani; and

Qwabe’s cellphone signal was picked up by a cellphone tower in Gugulethu, where the hijacking occurred, at 10.47pm.

At the request of the police, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research principal researcher Peter Schmitz mapped out the cellphone use of the suspects linked to the case.

Schmitz’s map shows that Tongo and Dewani were in contact 12 times in the 20 hours before the hijacking.

The first cellphone contact was at 8.44pm on November 12, when Tongo contacted Dewani, and the last was at 10.40pm on November 13, with Tongo again contacting Dewani.

Tongo’s plea included the following claims relating to cellphone contact with Dewani:

Hours before the murder, when Tongo was running late, Dewani “had already called me in an agitated state to find out where I was and the reason for the delay”;

Dewani later contacted Tongo, asking whether he had arranged the hijacking; and

While driving the couple shortly before the allegedly simulated hijacking, “I sent a

Qwabe’s cellphone signal was picked up by a tower before the hijacking

text message to Shrien Dewani not to forget about the money. He answered by way of a text message that the money was in an envelope in a pouch behind the front passenger seat.”

Other SMSes between Anni and some of her family members are also expected to be used as evidence in the trial.

Her father, Vinod Hindocha, said last week that he and three other relatives, including Anni’s cousin, Sneha, whom she had messaged about her unhappiness with Dewani, would be witnesses in the trial.

One of the SMSes that Anni sent Sneha apparently read: “I don’t want to marry him. I’m going to be unhappy for the rest of my life . . . one cannot even hug him.”

Anni’s BlackBerry, which was stolen during the hijacking and sold to a Khayelitsha teacher, was later recovered by the police.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Nathi Mncube confirmed this week that the state had completed its investigation into the allegations against Dewani and was ready to proceed with the trial.

Dewani’s advocate, Francois van Zyl, said in court he hoped a trial date would be set by the time his client made his third appearance next month.