Van Zyl reads out common cause facts

Francois van Zyl, for Dewani, said the document was agreed to between the State and the defence.

 

The first undisputed fact was that police retrieved one of the yellow gloves that convicted killer Mziwamadoda Qwabe wore while driving the shuttle taxi in which Dewani and his bride Anni were hijacked in Gugulethu on November 13, 2010, during their honeymoon.
Van Zyl said the glove was retrieved on November 19, 2010, near to where the vehicle was abandoned. Anni's body was found in the shuttle on Sunday, November 14. She had been shot dead.

 

A primer residue test, to test for gunpowder residue, was later conducted on the glove.

 

On December 28, 2010, the police's chief forensic analyst received the test. As a result of the police's analysis, the kit tested positive for primer residue.

 

Another undisputed fact was that the silver VW Sharan belonged to driver and convicted killer Zola Tongo and that his fingerprints were lifted from the vehicle. It was common cause that the retrieved glove caused the prints discovered on the vehicle.

 

After the document was handed up, Van Zyl continued his cross-examination of Qwabe, the State's second witness.

 

Two minutes later, the cross-examination had to be adjourned because of sound problems.

 

Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso warned prosecutor Adrian Mopp that sound should be sorted out at the beginning of the day and that she did not want any delays.

 

The trial has previously adjourned because Traverso, her two assessors, and the defence could not hear what witnesses were saying.

 

The State alleges that Dewani masterminded the plot to have Anni killed during a staged hijacking.

 

He has pleaded not guilty to murder, kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, conspiracy to commit these crimes, and with defeating the ends of justice.

 

Qwabe was sentenced to 25 years in jail for his role in the crime, in terms of a plea and sentencing agreement reached in August 2012.

 

Accomplice Xolile Mngeni is serving life for pulling the trigger of the gun that killed Anni Dewani. Tongo is serving 18 years in jail, also in terms of a plea bargain and sentencing agreement.