REUTERS
091210
Businessman Shrien Dewani is led into a prison van at Westminster
Magistrates Court in central London December 8, 2010. A millionaire
Briton accused of murdering his bride while the couple were on honeymoon
in South Africa must remain in custody after South African authorities
appealed against a London court granting him bail on Wednesday.
REUTERS/Andrew Winning (BRITAIN - Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS SOCIETY)
But Shrien Dewani did not leave South Africa on taxpayers’ money when he flew back to the UK, having been acquitted for the murder of his wife Anni Hindocha.
Nevertheless, the Dewani trial has cost taxpayers millions of rand.
When he first came to Cape Town to face charges related to his wife’s murder, the South African Justice Department arranged his extradition.
It took them four years to extradite the Briton, a process which involved several hearings in London at which South African detectives and lawyers testified. The cost of their trips to the UK capital and accommodation there was borne by local taxpayers.
Eventually Dewani was extradited to South Africa on April 7 this year, flying to Cape Town aboard a chartered plane, believed to be a Gulfstream V plane, accompanied by a team of doctors and nurses.
At the time, he was reported to be displaying “suicidal tendencies” and the justice department did not want to “take any chances” by sending him on a commercial flight, they said.
But the expense of chartering the plane, the overflight fees and refuelling costs were said to have cost in the region of R2.9 million.
Apart from the Briton’s eight-month stay at Valkenberg, there have also been the costs of the trial, with senior advocates presenting the State’s case.
There are reports that his family have been staying at the Crystal Towers Hotel during the trial – at the taxpayers’ expense.
Justice Department spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said the department would not foot the bill to send Dewani home, and he would have to fend for himself.
“We said we would send him home if he was found not fit to stand trial within the 18-month period,” Mhaga said.
At his first court appearance Dewani was escorted to court like a celebrity, accompanied by a blue light brigade in a big black van with tinted windows.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that Dewani will head home on a British Airways aircraft tonight.
Magha said they had not yet evaluated the overall costs of the Dewani prosecution.
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