Shoba was caught after the hitman he hired, Muzikayise Malephane, was arrested.
Malephane confessed to the crime and implicated Shoba as the mastermind, saying Shoba had wanted Pule killed because he was afraid his fiancée would find out about his affair with her. Malephane pleaded guilty to the murder and is serving a 20-year sentence.
Shoba was convicted in March.
Wilson did not mince his words when handing down the sentence.
“The shock and trauma Mr Shoba apparently experienced [an argument offered in mitigation of sentencing] do not in themselves bear on the sentence to be imposed.
“This is especially so because in my judgment convicting Mr Shoba I found Ms Pule’s murder was premeditated,” he said.
As a result, he said the criminal law amendment act required him to sentence Shoba to life in prison unless there were circumstantial and compelling circumstances to justify a lesser sentence.
“He contracted another to carry out the killing.
“That Ms Pule was pregnant when she was killed is also plainly very aggravating, as is the degree of planning and persistence Mr Shoba demonstrated in bringing about Ms Pule’s death,” the judge said.
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Ntuthuko Shoba gets life sentence for murdering pregnant Tshegofatso Pule
Journalist
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Former JSE analyst Ntuthuko Shoba has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the premeditated murder of his pregnant girlfriend Tshegofatso Pule, which he orchestrated with the help of an acquaintance.
“You will spend the rest of your natural life in prison unless the parole authorities consider you fit for release in the fullness of time,” said Johannesburg high court acting judge Stuart Wilson.
The 28-year-old Pule was eight months pregnant when she was shot dead. Her bloodstained body was found hanging from a tree in the Durban Deep area of Roodepoort in June 2020. A rope had been tied around her neck and looped over a branch and her body hoisted aloft.
Her family last saw her when she went with Shoba to buy clothes for their baby. She later sent them a text message saying she and Shoba had argued and she was returning home.
CCTV cameras captured images of her leaving Shoba’s apartment block in a grey Jeep on June 4 2020. She was not seen again until her corpse was found four days later.
Shoba was caught after the hitman he hired, Muzikayise Malephane, was arrested.
Malephane confessed to the crime and implicated Shoba as the mastermind, saying Shoba had wanted Pule killed because he was afraid his fiancée would find out about his affair with her. Malephane pleaded guilty to the murder and is serving a 20-year sentence.
Shoba was convicted in March.
Wilson did not mince his words when handing down the sentence.
“The shock and trauma Mr Shoba apparently experienced [an argument offered in mitigation of sentencing] do not in themselves bear on the sentence to be imposed.
“This is especially so because in my judgment convicting Mr Shoba I found Ms Pule’s murder was premeditated,” he said.
As a result, he said the criminal law amendment act required him to sentence Shoba to life in prison unless there were circumstantial and compelling circumstances to justify a lesser sentence.
“He contracted another to carry out the killing.
“That Ms Pule was pregnant when she was killed is also plainly very aggravating, as is the degree of planning and persistence Mr Shoba demonstrated in bringing about Ms Pule’s death,” the judge said.
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