Murdered tourist looking for 'real Africa'
2010-11-16 10:15
Cape Town - The husband of murdered tourist Anni Dewani says she made the fatal decision to go into Gugulethu last Saturday night because she wanted to see the “real Africa”.
Speaking to UK tabloid The Sun, Briton Shrien Dewani, 31, revealed on Monday that his Swedish wife said she wanted a change from the “safe” region around their hotel, Cape Town’s luxury Cape Grace, where they were staying for their honeymoon.
“She had never been to Africa before, so she suggested that we should have a look at the ‘real Africa’,” Dewani told the newspaper.
"Anni grew up in Sweden, and she felt as if the area around the hotel was like at home, so clean and safe, and maybe a bit sterile.
According to The Sun, Anni was killed by a bullet which had severed an artery. She is also believed to have been sexually assaulted.
Township tourist hotspot
The couple are believed to have been heading to township tourist hotspot Mzoli’s Meat in Gugulethu at about 23:00 on Saturday night.
But an employee of Mzoli's told News24 that they close at 19:00 every day.
Thabo Mbilatshwa of tour company Direct Action Centre for Peace and Memory said this is because even the owner of Mzoli's is aware of the dangers in Gugulethu at night.
The restaurant was recommended by UK celebrity chef Jamie Oliver in his magazine last year, when he described the food as “heaven” and “totally sexy”.
The couple were travelling in a shuttle car with a driver when they were stopped at traffic lights by two hijackers.
"The men kept saying, 'We are not going to hurt you. We just want the car'. That was a lie," Dewani told The Sun.
The attackers then dumped their driver and drove off with the couple.
‘We begged them to let us go’
He and Anni apparently begged their attackers to dump them together, but after about 20 minutes Shrien ended up being pushed out of the car.
Anni’s bloody body was later found in the car, which was in Khayelitsha.
Shrien said: "I don't want to go into detail about what happened during the attack, because I will probably start crying. But they were so cold. They put a gun in my ear and pulled back the trigger - it really was the stuff of movies.
"Most of the conversation was us pleading to be dumped together. I held on to Anni as I said to them 'Look, if you're not going to hurt her, let us go'."
Western Cape Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz said that police are close to catching the killers.
“We have found positive forensic evidence in the car and we know exactly who the person is," Fritz said.