The Johannesburg High Court will today listen to closing arguments in the murder trial of Ntuthuko Shoba, accused of ordering a hit on his then “girlfriend” Tshegofatso Pule.
Prosecutors seek a conviction for the alleged mastermind behind the gruesome murder of Pule. She was shot in Noordgesig, Soweto and later found hanging from a tree in Durban Deep, Roodepoort in June 2020.
In February 2021, Muzikayise Malephane was convicted and sentenced to 20 years behind bars for Pule’s murder, who was heavily pregnant with Shoba’s child at the time of her death.
Throughout the trial, Shoba maintained his innocence, telling the court during cross-examination last week that he did not instruct Malephane to kill Pule.
He also shot down suggestions that he had a close relationship with Malephane, saying their meetings were mainly about Malephane supplying him with cigarettes. But Malephane previously testified that Shoba ordered him to kill Pule for R70 000.
Day 1 on trial
On Monday, February 14, Shoba’s lawyer Norman Makhubela applied for his client’s discharge in terms of section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
The section stipulates that any suspect should be discharged as per the judge’s approval if there is no substantive evidence linking the suspect to the offence.
Makhubela’s application was dismissed by judge Stuart Wilson. Shortly thereafter, Shoba took the stand and told the court that there was never a committed relationship between him and Pule. He said theirs was just an “illicit affair”.
He also revealed that it was not for the first time that Pule got pregnant in 2020. According to Shoba, the couple had agreed to an abortion in 2019.
Day 2 on trial
On Tuesday, February 15, Shoba told the court that he had no knowledge of his then “girlfriend’s” whereabouts on the night she was killed, stating under oath that his last communication with Pule was when he hired an Uber ride for her.
“I requested an Uber to pick up Tshego [and drive her] to my place. I had no knowledge that it was Malephane who picked her up,” Shoba told the court.
Shoba further told the court that when a pick-up car arrived at his place, he walked towards the gate and saw Pule in the passenger seat of a silver-grey Jeep, adding that the driver and his then “girlfriend” seemed close. He had assumed they knew one another.
Day 3 on trial
Shoba’s cross-examination ended on Thursday, February 17, when the prosecution argued that he had had constant communication with Malephane since May 2020 until the night Pule was murdered.
Shoba denied the accusations. He also refuted the prosecution’s assertion that the cellphone used to contact Malephane belonged to him.
The state also questioned him about meeting with the triggerman on May 29 2020 at the MacDonald’s in Ormonde. But he denied again that Malephane had called him a day before the meeting. The prosecutor then wanted to know how many times they had met.
“We met three or four times, but this was for cigarettes,” said Shoba, adding that they also drove together to buy milk and bread.
Day 4 on trial
The defence’s final witness, who cannot be named as ordered by the court, testified that Malephane was not selling cigarettes nor alcohol, but the witness agreed that Shoba and Malephane had constant meetings.
The witness confirmed that Malephane had borrowed her car the night Pule disappeared and later found dead. This is the same car Shoba said had given Pule a ride on June 4 2020.
Shoba faces one count of conspiracy to commit murder and one count of defeating the ends of justice.
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