Johannesburg – As Tshegofatso Pule’s murder trial continues against the alleged mastermind behind the assassination, Ntuthuko Shoba, the Johannesburg high court on Wednesday heard testimonies over cellphone records attained by Saps in their lead to the investigations.
This week, the court called state witnesses from the South African Police Services, both the cellphone expert who deals with cellphone mapping, starting off with Andries van Tonder to unpack data records in connection with calls initiated between Shoba and Malephane.
The sergeant who led the investigation of Pule’s murder was also called to the dock to give his testimony and to also reveal details on why he withheld the cellphones of Shoba, who at that time was not the suspect in the murder case.
#TshegofatsoPule | The murder trial against the accused, Ntuthuko Shoba resumes. He is accused of hiring Muzikayise Malephane to kill his girlfriend Tshegofatso Pule in June 2020. @SundayWorldZA pic.twitter.com/DRFbBZiz3G
— Thomas (@Java_let) February 2, 2022
During the trial, Malephane alleged that Shoba called ordered a hit to assassinate the late Pule on June 4, 2021.
Malephane, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence after entering into a plea bargain with the state, stated Shoba instructed him to kill Pule and to make it look like a suicide.
Van Tonder who took the stand in the witness box as continued with his testimony after it was adjourned yesterday.
The trial has been adjourned to Wednesday in a bid to allow the defence an opportunity to consult experts.
Starting off with yesterday’s cross-examination, Shobe’s lawyer Norman Makhubela questioned the cellphone expert if he had access to the said cell phones.
Van Tonder said he had no access to both cellphones belonging to Shobe, however, he used the data that was provided to him.
#TshegofatsoPule | Starting with the cross-examination, Shoba's lawyer Norman Makhubela pin questions to the Warrant Officer Andries van Tonder if he had access to the cell phones, he says "no", he used data that was provided to him. @SundayWorldZA
— Thomas (@Java_let) February 2, 2022
On Tuesday, Van Tonder claimed that there was no "activity" on Pule's murder case on the night she was assassinated. Shoba's lawyer wants to know if it’s possible there was activity that Van Tonder didn't know about.
— Thomas (@Java_let) February 2, 2022
However, Makhubela Makhubela argued by stating that although they accept that the cell phone records are legitimate, he believes there is something that was not reflected on the records.
When Makhubela asked the witness about cell phone towers, the state objected and stated that the witness on the stand is not qualified to answer such technical questions.
Makhubela then retracted his words, and rephrased the question: “Cellphones can both connect to the same tower regardless of the distances they are at from the tower right?”
Van Tonder said agreed that they can connect as long as they are in the same radius.
Van Tonder tells the court that as per his detailed records, on the 4th of June 2020, Pule's convicted killer, Muzikayise Malephane received calls from two numbers alleged from the mastermind behind Pule's murder, Ntuthuko Shoba, who is standing on trial. @SundayWorldZA pic.twitter.com/gaFS1sxBsQ
— Thomas (@Java_let) February 2, 2022
When asked to explain specifications within his job as the cell phone expert, Van Tonder said his job is to take raw data from network providers and compile his data analysis.
“I use this data to tell the story of the activities of cellphones and break down the data usage and locations,” said van Tonder.
Judge Stuart Wilson then asked Van Tonder to explain and tell the story regarding the “081 number” which is not clarified appropriately.
Van Tonder said on June 4, the 081 number called Malepane, and he indicated where on the diagram it reveals that the number called the convicted killer, as he previously reported that he received a call from one of Shobe’s numbers that starts with “081”.
According to Van Tonder’s data, it shows that on Malepane’s phone there is evidence of the call from that 081 number on the same day Pule was assassinated, Shoba denied the claim.
Showing the court the data analysis, Van Tonder said the “081″ number was used again at 22:44 pm the night the heavily pregnant Pule died, it shows that it was in the radius of Florida Park, Roodepoort.
The second witness who took the stand it’s sergeant Mpe Teme, who is the officer that took Shoba’s statement.
He told the court that when Shoba was arrested he had two of his cell phones.
He said both phones did not show any records that can be incriminating, stating that Shoba could have deleted all forms of communication in the murder case, to make himself clean.
When cross-examined over the WhatsApp texts that were discovered by the police, Teme said in the second phone, they extracted WhatsApp messages which showed the couple was fighting, and this led to the suspense that Shobe could have had a hand in Pule’s murder.
Shoba’s lawyers didn’t oppose the adjournment of Teme’s testimony.
Teme and another witness have been told to come back tomorrow.
The court called a third witness from Vodacom, who works as the Forensic liaison manager at Vodacom’s law enforcement support.
The witness took to the stand to confirm that she compiled a bundle of maps in eight pages related to this case.
She agreed with Van Tonder’s analysis that the radius for the cellphone records, were in the same vicinity.
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