Ntuthuko Shoba, a former JSE analyst, was found guilty of the murder of his pregnant girlfriend Tshegofatso Pule by the Johannesburg High Court.
Acting Judge Stuart Wilson stated that the evidence of Muzikayise Malephane, the man who confessed to killing Pule on Shoba’s orders, must be treated with caution because he is a single witness. However, the court accepted Shoba’s claim that he only met Malephane to buy cigarettes and rejected Shoba’s claim that he only met Malephane to buy cigarettes.
Wilson cleared Shoba of the charge of obstructing justice. “In my view, there is no basis on which I can convict Shoba on obstruction,” he said.
The court was shown video footage of Pule and Shoba walking from his home to a vehicle driven by Malephane, who confessed to killing Pule in June 2020.
Malephane is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for Pule’s murder. He became the state’s star witness, detailing how he and Shoba plotted the murder.
Pule, who was eight months pregnant, was discovered dead in Durban Deep. Her bloodied body was discovered hanging on a tree with a gunshot wound to the chest. Her fetus did not survive.