The alleged shooter in Swedish newly wed Anni Dewani's murder on Wednesday claimed that he did not kill her, after the prosecution accused him of lying to a South African court.

"I dispute that," Xolile Mngeni told the High Court in Cape Town.

Taking the stand for the third day, Mngeni claimed innocence in the November 2010 killing but admitted to his palm print having been found on the car in which Dewani's lifeless body was found in a poor Cape Town township.

State prosecutor Shareen Riley told Mngeni that his claims of not being at the murder scene were lies, as witnesses had testified otherwise and claimed that he had pulled the trigger.

The 25-year-old had also been found in possession of items taken from Dewani and the honeymooning couple's taxi driver and had pointed out key details of the slaying to police after his arrest, she said.

But Mngeni dismissed the state's arguments and stuck to his not guilty plea.

The palm print which led to his arrest as well as those of other suspects could have been transferred during an earlier encounter with the car, he said.

He also brushed off knowledge of multiple phone calls on the night that Dewani's body was found with co-accused Mziwamadoda Qwabe, who was jailed for 25 years after entering a plea bargain.

"That also beats me but that's not my number. Yes, I'm also shocked by that," he said, speaking through an interpreter.

This was despite having already told the court that he had been given the phone which was used for the calls earlier that day by Qwabe to sell.

The phone belonged to the couple's taxi driver who was jailed in 2010 for his role after making his own deal with the state, which says the killing was a paid hit on the recent bride that was ordered by her husband Shrien.

Mngeni reiterated earlier testimony that police had told him what to say, after having alleged officers assaulted him to force a confession of being present.

"It's just stories they are making up," he said.

Shrien Dewani claims he is innocent and is fighting extradition to South Africa to stand trial for murder.