Car thief and lockdown bootlegger? Friend of Tshegofatso Pule’s killer quizzed on his income

The trial of the alleged mastermind behind the murder of Tshegofatso Pule has heard how he allegedly called her convicted killer repeatedly on the day she was abducted and killed.

Ntuthuko Shoba returned to the dock on Monday at the Johannesburg high court as the state brought in more witnesses as it tries to prove he orchestrated the killing of his then heavily pregnant girlfriend, Pule, who was found hanging from a tree in Roodepoort in June 2020.

Last week, Muzikayise Malephane, who admitted to killing Pule after allegedly being contracted by Shoba, took the stand as a state witness and gave details of how he shot her dead before looking for a place to hang her on June 4.

Shoba has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and defeating the ends of justice.

The state called another witness, Muzi Khumalo, who is friends with Malephane and who was with him hours before Pule was killed.

Khumalo testified Malephane had on the day been bombarded by endless “irritating” calls which he seemed reluctant to answer.

“The calls were irritating because the phone would not stop ringing.

“The phone would ring and stop and ring and stop and ring. It looked like it was from the same number. It would ring and wait for a minute. He finally picked it up and said “ngyazwakala” [I’m coming]," Khumalo said.

Khumalo said when he and his friends left the house to order more alcohol, they found Malephane next to Shoba’s car .

Shoba’s lawyer Adv Norman Makhubela questioned Khumalo on how he had been able to recall Shoba’s vehicle number plate despite never having seen his car before it visited Malephane’s home on the day of Pule’s killing.

Khumalo said while he had been curious about Shoba’s visit, he did not know why he had managed to remember the number plate of his vehicle in full. “I can’t say. I looked at the number plate, I saw the number plate, and I recalled the number plate,” Khumalo said.

Makhubela said Malephane had claimed to have been selling illicit alcohol and cigarettes during lockdown and asked Khumalo if  Shoba had visited Malephane to buy cigarettes.

Khumalo said while he could not dispute this, he had not known Malephane to be trading in alcohol at the time, which is why they had left his house to buy liquor elsewhere.

He said Malephane’s source of income was from stealing cars.

The trial continues.

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