Court denies Ntuthuko Shoba’s bid to appeal

Tshegofatso Pule’s ex-lover Ntuthuko Shoba’s bid to to appeal his murder conviction and life sentence was rejected by the Johannesburg High Court on Monday.

Judge Stuart Wilson said he did not make a mistake in reviewing the evidence and ultimately sentencing him.

“There’s no room for reasonable doubt on Shoba being guilty. No reason to suspect an appeal court would reject [hitman Muzikayise] Malephane’s version of events. I had been keenly aware I might make mistakes [so exercised due caution].

“There is no sufficient reason to grant leave to appeal. It would be an exercise in judicial vanity,” said Wilson.

Shoba, through his lawyer Louis Bernard, made the application on Friday. Shoba was jailed for the premeditated murder of Pule, which he orchestrated with the help of Malephane.

Pule, 28, from Soweto, was eight months pregnant when she was shot dead. Her body was found hanging from a tree in the Durban Deep area of Roodepoort in June 2020.

Shoba was not in court for the application outcome.

Malephane had confessed to the crime and implicated Shoba as the mastermind, saying he had wanted Pule killed because he was afraid his fiancée would find out about his affair with her. He is serving a 20-year sentence.

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