Anni Dewani

Zola Tongo, the shuttle bus driver who helped to orchestrate the murder of Swedish tourist Anni Dewani in Cape Town in 2010, has been granted parole.

The court discharged him and he returned to the UK a free man. At the time, no reasons for revoking the parole were provided. This just confirms that South Africa doesn't want to reduce crime, rather encourage it.

Zola Tongo, now 42, was alleged to have hired two men to kill Anni, 28, on the orders of her husband. Her husband was cleared, but Tongo received 18 years ...

Tongo was due to be released from Malmesbury prison on parole in 2020, but was kept behind bars after opposition from Anni's family. He was first set to be released in August 2020 on parole. ‘He was given 25 years after he agreed to tell the police about what really happened. Tongo pleaded guilty to his part in the murder, and was sentenced to 18 years. He is now set to be released from prison on June 21 after successful pleading for parole ‘As far as I am concerned, they should lock him up again and hide the key. He lied to us. Anni’s father Vinod said: ‘Tongo is a ruthless killer. They are now being cheated by the legal system. He will now be released on June 21 He will leave prison on June 21. 'Good police work has gone down the drain.

Family of the Swede killed on her honeymoon in Cape Town are dismayed at parole being granted to the former shuttle operator Zola Tongo.

Dewani was extradited and stood trial in the high court in Cape Town. He was discharged because of a lack of evidence. But through a cold-blooded criminal who is not ready for [release into] society, it's likely that will happen again. “This confirms that SA doesn't want to reduce crime, rather encourage it. Tongo, who chauffeured Anni and her British husband Shrien Dewani during their honeymoon in Cape Town, is serving an 18-year jail sentence for his role in the murder. Tongo, who was sentenced shortly after the murder, said he hired Xolile Mngeni and Mziwamadoda Qwabe to carry out the hit. Anni’s body was found with a bullet wound to the neck in Tongo’s abandoned car in Khayelitsha on the morning of November 14 2010.

Anni Dewani's uncle Ashok Hindocha says her killer, Zola Tongo, does not deserve to be released on parole. Image: Ruvan Boshoff.

He could have said 'no’. He said he was afraid of Dewani. Dewani didn’t have a gun. Hindocha said his family had travelled to SA about seven times for the court trials and Tongo’s parole applications. “He was supposed to tell the whole truth when he went to court but he didn’t answer the questions. Hindocha said Anni’s father, Vinod, consented to Tongo’s plea and sentencing agreement with the state because he believed that the former shuttle operator was sincere. Hindocha described the decision to place Tongo on parole as a poor reflection on SA’s justice system. The parole board said it took the decision after weighing up “all elements of the case”, including Anni’s family's views, their written representation and Tongo’s “consistent positive good behaviour” and participation in rehabilitation programmes.

Johannesburg - Eleven years ago, Zola Tongo gunned down Anni Dewani in Cape Town. He told the court that he'd been paid R15 000 by her husband, Shrien, to ...

And if winning the war on crime appears impossible, ordinary people will take the law into their own hands to see justice done. It is hard enough to have criminals brought to book; arrested, successfully prosecuted and jailed in the first place. The parole board also ignored a psychologist’s report arguing against his release as well as Harmse’s anti-social behaviour on the inside.

The family of slain Anni Dewani have called the South African justice system a shame after the Department of Correctional Services approved the parole of ...

This just confirms that South Africa doesn't want to reduce crime rather encourage it. It was at this time that Tongo hired Xolile Mngeni and Mziwamadoda Qwabe to carry out the murder. “This is a shame to the South African justice system. IOL extensively covered the Dewani murder trial, and during the trial Tongo told the court Shrien Dewani had paid him money to kill his wife and to make it look like a carjacking. Anni was a Swedish woman who was murdered while on her honeymoon in the South Africa, after the taxi in which she and her husband Shrien Dewani were travelling was hijacked. “The CSPB (Correctional Supervision and Parole Board) took the following decision to place the offender on parole from June 21, 2022 to June 6, 2028,” it said.