Shoba testifies about last few hours with girlfriend Tshegofatso Pule

Ntuthuko Shoba, accused of murdering his girlfriend Tshegofatso Pule in 2020, on Tuesday described his last few hours with Pule and how she was picked up by a person he believed she knew.

Shoba was testifying for the second day in his defence in the Johannesburg high court after the state closed its case and the court dismissed his application for a discharge.

Shoba said on his last night with Pule at his home on June 4 2020, she was on the phone most of the time and he thought she was on social media. Later that evening, Shoba said Pule left for her home and said her ride was outside. Shoba said he saw a Jeep arrive to pick her up.

“She walked directly to the front door of the car, she [had a short] interaction with the driver. I figured she knew the driver,” Pule said.

Afterwards, she said goodbye, got into the front seat of the vehicle “and this convinced me she knew the driver of the car”.

Shoba said there was only a driver but he could not see who the person was as the Jeep was about “seven or eight metres” away.

He tried to contact Pule by texting her on June 5 to make arrangements for the purchase of baby clothes the next day. He received a call from Pule’s cousin Palesa Senokoane on Sunday June 7 asking him about her whereabouts.

Shoba said he had an interview with the police on June 7 and told them he last saw Pule on June 4. He said he offered to share CCTV footage which might assist in tracing the number plates of the vehicle that had arrived to fetch her.

Last month, the court heard from Muzikayise Malephane, the man who killed the heavily pregnant Pule, how Shoba had approached him to kill her. After negotiations, the two had agreed on a price of R70,000.

Malephane told the court he shot Pule in Noordgesig near Soweto before dumping her body in Durban Deep. He testified he was driving his girlfriend’s silver-grey Jeep, which was meant to be used as a decoy, to make it appear as though she had requested an e-hailing service.

Malephane was aware of the CCTV cameras at Shoba’s complex, but according to Shoba these would not be able to capture the licence plates or disc.

The trial continues.

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