He got what he deserved: Ramaphosa welcomes life sentence for Tshegofatso Pule's killer

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday welcomed the life sentence handed to Tshegofatso Pule's killer, Ntuthuko Shoba, adding that it was “befitting, appropriate and justice for the two innocent lives he took so cruelly”.

Shoba was Pule's estranged boyfriend and the father of her unborn child. She was found with a single bullet wound to the chest, her lifeless body hoisted up a tree, in Durban Deep, Johannesburg. The incident happened in June 2020. Pule was eight months pregnant. 

Shoba was linked to the crime after the hitman he hired, Muzikayise Malephane, was arrested, confessed to the crime and informed police Shoba had hired him.

During Shoba's trial, Malephane, who is behind bars for the killing, said Shoba recruited him to kill Pule because he was afraid the woman he regarded as his wife would find out about the affair and the baby.

Shoba denied the crime, but in March he was found guilty of premeditated murder of the 28-year-old. 

Ramaphosa said: “As a nation we welcome this sentence that sends the strongest of messages that perpetrators of violence against women and children will face the full might of the law.” 

He said he hoped the sentence would deter others from committing violent crimes against women and children. 

“This was a crime of particular callousness, by a man who had made several attempts on the life of a woman who was carrying his child. The discovery of Tshegofatso’s body hanging from a tree was a horror from which we are still struggling to recover as a nation,” Ramaphosa said.

“As we prepare to commemorate Women’s Month in August, gender-based violence remains the biggest obstacle to achieving real and meaningful gender equality in our country. We call on our law-enforcement authorities and the entire criminal justice system to act without fear or favour to ensure victims of gender-based violence are protected and that perpetrators are dealt with appropriately,” added the president.