Zola Tongo, now 42, was convicted of involvement in the murder after he pleaded guilty to hiring two men to kill Anni, 28, in Gugulethu, near Cape Town, on November 13, 2010.
Annie was killed in the back of a Tongo taxi, receiving only one shot in the neck after her new husband left the vehicle, which was later found abandoned with her body inside.
Tongo claimed that Anni’s new husband, Shrien Dewani, had ordered the beating while the couple was on their honeymoon.
The taxi driver pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 18 years. Dewani’s husband was acquitted of all charges in 2014.
Tongo was due to be released from Malmsbury Jail on parole in 2020, but was held behind bars following an objection from Annie’s family.
However, he was released on parole on Tuesday after his lawyers were successful in the dispute over his release.
Zola Tongo, now 42, reportedly hired two men to kill Anni, 28, on the orders of her new husband in Gugulethu, near Cape Town, on November 13, 2010. She will now be released on June 21 after successful appeal for release
Swedish-born Anni was married for just a few weeks to 41-year-old British millionaire Shrien Dewani.
Tongo was released on parole on various terms, including house arrest, community service orders, and a ban on alcohol and drug use.
Reynold Sendemann, chairman of the parole board, said Tongo should be treated by a psychologist and evaluated by social workers while on parole.
Tongo’s house arrest will be valid for the first year of his six-year conditional release, after which he will be completely free – provided he does not violate the conditions.
He must also undergo High Risk Reversal monitoring for 12 months and has been instructed not to intimidate or threaten anyone, commit a crime or contact the victims.
South African law stipulates that a convicted criminal serving 25 years or less in prison is entitled to parole after serving half of his sentence.
Swedish-born Anni has been married for just a few weeks to British millionaire Shrien Dewani, now 42.
He said his life was saved as the two gunmen forced him out of the vehicle at gunpoint before killing his new bride.
Dewani was accused of arranging the beating of his engineer wife with the taxi driver and of paying him and two of his accomplices.
Tongo is said to have been paid 15,000 R (£ 700) by Dewani to organize two assassins to kill.
Dewani (pictured above), 42, was pictured leaving his εκατο 3.5 million apartment in an exclusive London area in 2020
Anni Dewani was killed in the back of a Tongo taxi after being shot in the neck after her husband left the taxi, which was later found abandoned with her body inside.
Prosecutors said Dewani – a successful British businessman also of Indian descent – was so desperate to escape an unwanted marriage that he hired a taxi to kill his wife during a staged car theft.
Dewani was arrested in Britain, but resisted extradition to South Africa to respond to allegations of a conspiracy to commit murder.
This started a long extradition battle – delayed by Shrien being admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Britain.
Dewani was eventually extradited to South Africa in 2014 to stand trial.
During his trial, he admitted that he had a secret double life and that he had seen male prostitutes.
One of these men was known as “The German Teacher” who flew to Cape Town to give information about his meetings with Diwani.
But Judge Jeanette Traverso refused to allow the prosecution to present him as a witness in court.
The German Teacher, whose real name was Leopold Leisser, was found hanged at his home in Birmingham in November 2016.
Dewani was acquitted by a court in Cape Town in December 2014.
The judge dismissed the case, saying she was unwilling to rely on the evidence of three convicted men and that the case against Dewani was full of lies.
Dewani was flown to South Africa from Britain for trial just four years after his wife died of trauma and mental health problems as a result of the murder.
Returning to Britain after his release, Dewani found a new love affair with Brazilian photographer Gledison Lopez Martins and traveled to Bombay, where he married Anni and his boyfriend.
Mr Dewani (right) was acquitted of involvement in Anni’s murder during a trial in South Africa. After the court case, Mr. Dewani, who is bisexual, found new love with the Brazilian photographer Gledison Lopez Martins (see
But Tongo was sentenced to 18 years in prison, while the murderer Mziwamadoda Qwabe also pleaded guilty to murder and is serving a 25-year sentence. The man who shot Anni, Xolile Mngeni, died of cancer in prison while serving his sentence.
Tongo was first set to be released in August 2020 on parole.
However, after the release board decided to release him, an appeal from Annie’s father and her uncle led to a reconsideration.
Tongo was visited in his cell and burned face to face to reveal the truth of what happened, but to no avail, and Annie’s family asked the South African authorities to revoke his conditional release.
Tongo had packed his bags and said goodbye to his colleagues in his cell, and his family had reached Malsbury Jail 40 miles outside of Cape Town to pick him up.
But less than 24 hours before his release, Tongo was released.
Anni was killed in the back of a honeymoon taxi with her new husband in a Cape Town town on November 13, 2010. She was shot in the neck after her husband left the taxi, which was later found abandoned with her body. inside
Dewani has spoken publicly about her death only once since she was acquitted.
In a letter to a medical examiner in London in November 2016, he referred to the three convicts as “liars”, stating that an attempt had been made to frame him.
He wrote: “I would like to make it clear that I have a significant number of questions that remain unanswered about the night my wife and I were abducted and Anni was tragically shot after being taken from me.
“Each of the gang members made an agreement with the authorities to win either full immunity or very reduced sentences in exchange for providing evidence against me.
“It’s the evidence of these proven liars that led to a witch hunt against me and the failure to find the truth about what happened that night.
“It is clear that none of the information provided by these individuals was substantiated in any substantive way.
“It simply came to our notice then. I understand and share the frustrations of the Hindocha (Anni) family.
“However, the extent of my knowledge of the events leading up to Anni’s murder has already been exposed in a detailed public appeal. “This document was read in court at the beginning of my trial.”
