Ntuthuko Shoba’s cross-examination was concluded at the Johannesburg High Court today.
Shoba took the stand this week for the murder of his then “girlfriend” Tshegofatso Pule who was shot in Noordgesig, Soweto and later found hanging from a tree in Durban Deep, Roodepoort.
At the time, Pule was heavily pregnant with Shoba’s child, who is accused of planning her execution. Today, Shoba was asked to explain his relationship with the convicted murderer, Muzikayise Malephane.
During the proceedings, state prosecutor Faghrey Mohammed accused Shoba of hiding the truth about the circumstances that led to the brutal murder of Pule, saying witnesses and evidence before the court indicate that he had a hand in the gruesome murder.
The prosecution argued that Shoba had had constant communication with Malephane since May 2020 until the night Pule was murdered.
However, Shoba denied the accusation. He also denied the prosecution’s assertion that the cellphone used to contact Malephane was his.
Mohammed said the records before the court show that there were calls and text messages from Shoba’s phones to Malephane. The state also questioned him about meeting with the triggerman on May 29 2020 at the MacDonald’s in Ormonde.
But Shoba denied 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.
Mohammed then asked why he drove Malephane to the shops to buy milk and bread if they were not friends. To which Shoba responded: “Malephane just asked and it wasn’t far.”
When the prosecutor asked if he knew Malephane was a criminal, Shoba said yes.
Mohammed then put it to him: “The fact that you knew Malephane was a criminal and he wasn’t in your circle gave you more reasons to approach him to kill Pule, do you agree to that?”
Shoba responded: “No,” telling the court that there was a difference between a car thief and a hitman.
He acknowledged that he travelled to Mofolo in Soweto on June 5, not far from Meadowlands, where Pule lived.
And when the prosecutor asked why he did not go to check on Pule while her phone rang unanswered, although he was in the same vicinity, Shoba said her phone was ringing but he didn’t think anything bad had happened. He added he thought Pule would call back.
“We were supposed to go shopping for baby clothes that weekend, but I didn’t think that the worst could have happened,” said Shoba.
The court adjourned the case to Thursday, when the convicted killer’s girlfriend is expected to testify.
Shoba denies knowing Pule’s whereabouts on the night of her murder
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