Shoba's defence to grill police expert over disputed cellphone records

The defence counsel for the alleged mastermind behind Tshegofatso Pule’s murder is expected to cross-examine a police expert who gave evidence disputing his client's claims that he did not know the cellphone number he is accused of having used when plotting the hit.

W/O Andries van Tonder returned to the stand on Tuesday to testify on the cellphone records regarding the disputed number in relation to June 4 2020, when Pule was killed.

The court heard that while Ntuthuko Shoba had denied knowledge of the unregistered number, it was identified to be always in the same location as his other registered cellphone number after the analysis of data obtained from cellphone network providers.

State prosecutor Faghre Mohammed said he had asked network providers, including Telkom, to come to court to corroborate the evidence.

“They are arranging base station specialists to come and testify and give clarity regarding the radiuses. After today we will have clarity as to when they will be available to come to court but I am putting pressure on them to prepare to avail themselves this week,” Mohammed said.

Pule, who was eight months pregnant, was found hanging from a tree four days after her disappearance. She had been shot.

Pule’s convicted killer Muzikayise Malephane has testified that Shoba had repeatedly used the number to call him before they met to finalise the plan to kill Pule, but Shoba, through his lawyers, had denied knowledge of the number.

Shoba’s lawyer, advocate Norman Makhubela, asked for an hour’s adjournment after Van Tonder’s evidence in chief, as he wanted to consult further before beginning his cross-examination.

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