Ntuthuko Shoba takes the stand in Tshegofatso Pule murder trial

Ntuthuko Shoba took the stand for the first time after being accused of masterminding the murder of his eight-months-pregnant girlfriend Tshegofatso Pule in 2020.

This after acting judge Stuart Wilson earlier on Monday dismissed the application to discharge the case against Shoba in terms of section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which allows the accused to be dismissed if there is no evidence that they committed the offence. 

Shoba is on trial after Muzikayise Malephane entered into a plea agreement with the state. Now serving a 20-year jail term, Malephane alleged that he had been hired to kill Pule because Shoba feared his “wife” would find out about Pule's pregnancy.

On Monday afternoon, Johannesburg high courtroom 2E sat full but silent as Shoba began his testimony in a barely audible monotone.

His lawyer, advocate Norman Makhubela lead his evidence which began with how he found out about Pule's pregnancy and what happened afterwards.

According to Shoba, when Pule told him she was pregnant he was “shocked at first but looking forward” to having a child. 

“I did inform my family. They were shocked that I had been in a relationship [with someone else] and I think disappointed that I had had an affair.

“At no point did I say I didn't want the baby,” he testified.

Despite this, he said Pule was never formally introduced to his family. He said they had made plans in May to introduce her but that a funeral of a loved one meant they had to change the date to the end of May.

Pule was murdered on June 4 2020, before this could take place.

But he said he did have a “pleasant” discussion with Pule's aunt one evening about them coming over.

"[After the phone call] I went to see my father who asked how far along she was. I said, 'I think seven-and-a-half months'. He struggled to understand [how this could happen]. He said, 'Let's wait till the child is born [before introducing Pule to the family]',” he said.

Shoba testified to paying for her doctor's appointments which he said took place once a month either on the 25th or the 27th. He said he would pay for her Uber to get there if he was unable to go with her for her check-ups. He said because of lockdown he was unable to go into the doctor's rooms with her.

This is significant as it links back to testimony from state prosecutor Paseka Temeki who told the court that Pule was left to handle the pregnancy on her own and was repeatedly disappointed by Shoba. Temeki told the court that Shoba:

• was absent and always made excuses that he had to work;
• had not gone to one doctor’s appointment with Pule and always used Uber to ferry her to where she needed to go instead of accompanying her;
• was not happy at the prospect of being a father, contrary to what he wanted the court to believe; and
• had not paid for various medical expenses, antenatal vitamins and antenatal care, as he wanted the court to believe.

The prosecutor said WhatsApp messages between the two were proof of Shoba's absenteeism.

Makhubela said he would “stand-down” from going through the “extensive” WhatsApp messages with Shoba on Monday as they were already in court records.

The little 'Big Head'

Shoba said the first time he went with Pule for an appointment, he had to stay in the car because of the lockdown restrictions.

“I got so excited,” he said.

When Pule shared the images of the baby girl in utero: “That's when reality hit — I'm going to be a dad. We called her 'Big Head'; it was our joke because her head looked so big on the scans.”

He described Pule as “bubbly, nice to be about and always joking”.

“She was a fashionista and a lovely person,” he said.

But Shoba said there was “often frictions” where they would argue about him not being able to take her to her appointments, or if he forgot to pick up her “cans” from the doctors which was near his work.

“It never got physical, we would chat and then I'd go and see her.”

He said his other relationship with partner Rosetta Moatshe never affected his relationship with Pule.

He said he didn't tell his partner about Pule's pregnancy because she had lost her mother when the pregnancy was discovered in January.

“It would have torn her apart.”

This remark caused mutterings from several members of the gallery, many whom were from the Methodist Church GBV group, who attend court cases where gender-based violence has occurred. Their role is to support the victims and their families.

Shoba said Moatshe found out about Pule's pregnancy from social media posts after Pule's death.

How Shoba met Muzikayise Malephane 

Much of the testimony was spent on Shoba's relationship with Pule's killer. According to his testimony, Shoba met Malephane some time in 2008 or  2009 at Shoba's cousin's house.

“He was a friend of my friend. I'd see him every now and then in Soweto,” he said.

He said he bumped into Malephane when he was stopped at a red robot on the corner of Roodepoort and Main Reef roads.

He said Malephane said he could buy cigarettes from him as during the hard lockdown in 2020 cigarettes were not sold in shops. He admitted to buying them illegally from Malephane on three occasions at his house in Durban Deep, Roodepoort.

Shoba said there was no other transaction between the two and vehemently denied requesting Malephane kill Pule.

At this point Shoba answered the questions about there being a “killing contract” between the two. Unblinking, he said: “No. Never. Not true at all.”

According to Malephane's testimony, Pule was killed because she refused to terminate her pregnancy.

“I never requested her to terminate the pregnancy,” Shoba contested.

“I had no need to tell him [about the pregnancy], I'd [never] confide any of my private affairs to him,” he said as the gallery murmured and shook their heads.

R70,000 was the price on Pule's head, but Shoba said the most he gave Malephane was R20. This, he said, was gifted when he met Pule by chance at a hardware store. He said Shoba was R15 short and asked if he could borrow the cash to pay for his purchase. Shoba only had a R20 and gave that to him so he could pay for the items.

Pule’s friend Tshepiso Tsita testified last month to the “job offer” Pule had received. She said on May 29 2020 — a week before Pule’s death — in the middle of SA’s hard Covid-19 lockdown, Pule got a strange offer for a makeup job. The job was to allow the heavily pregnant mother to work from home. 

Pule was to meet for the job interview at 11am or midday at the McDonald’s in Ormonde. The “interviewer” said Pule should instead wait opposite the McDonald’s where a Jeep would be waiting for her and the driver was already there. But Pule didn't go.

Allegations made by Malephane suggest that Shoba had arranged for the Jeep to come to Shoba's house.

Shoba vehemently denied being behind this mysterious job interview. Instead, he said, he tried to talk her out of it as she was heavily pregnant. 

Shoba's testimony was that Pule arrived at his house by Uber on the evening of June 4 to compile a shopping list of things for the child. He said before that he ordered them a takeaway and they watched TV. He said she was on her phone chatting.

Makhubela countered that her cellphone showed no activity that evening, to which Shoba responded that she was using his Wi-Fi and so it did not register on her cellphone records.

Pule was found dead in Durban Deep the following day. She had a gunshot wound to the chest and her bloodied body was found hanging on tree. Her baby did not survive. 

The court adjourned until 10am on Tuesday, when Shoba will continue his testimony.

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