The man convicted of orchestrating the murder of Tshegofatso Pule, Ntuthuko Shoba, made a brief court appearance before it was postponed to 28 July. Photo: Keep The Energy / Facebook and @EFFSouthAfrica / Twitter
Tshegofatso Pule: Ntuthuko Shoba’s sentencing postponed to July
Ntuthuko Shoba’s sentencing for the orchestration of Tshegofatso Pule’s murder has been postponed for a pre-sentencing report for the court.
The man convicted of orchestrating the murder of Tshegofatso Pule, Ntuthuko Shoba, made a brief court appearance before it was postponed to 28 July. Photo: Keep The Energy / Facebook and @EFFSouthAfrica / Twitter
The man convicted of orchestrating Tshegofatso Pule’s murder Ntuthuko Shoba made a brief court appearance on Tuesday, 10 May. Shoba’s case was postponed to 28 July 2022.
Shoba’s case postponed for a pre-sentencing report
The postponement is to allow him to prepare a pre-sentencing report for the court. Shoba decides to have his own private probation officer represent him in the mitigation of his sentence.
Pule’s uncle Tumisang Katake says that anything less than a life sentence for Shoba would be an injustice. He was speaking outside the Johannesburg High Court following the postponement of Shoba’s case.
Family of deceased want closure and the ability to mourn
Katake believes that the delay in starting sentence proceedings is dragging the time out for Pule’s family to have closure. Speaking on the postponement, Katake says it is the way the justice system works.’
“As much as we would have loved for the matter to proceed but that is just how the justice system works. We just have to give him a chance for the report to be compiled. I would have loved to hear the reasons the pre-sentence report could not be prepared… Again, we see a process where our family is being denied a chance of closure,”
said Katake.
Katake says the family needs closure and the sentencing proceedings need to be concluded for this to happen. He explained that they wish to mourn and reflect on the pain and anguish the ordeal caused Pule’s family.
Acting Judge Stuart Wilson explained that while delays in cases such as these are not ideal, he hoped there would be no further delays, reports SowetanLIVE.
When and how was Pule murdered?
In March of this year, Shoba was found guilty of orchestrating Pule’s murder. Pule’s body was found hanging from a tree in Durban Deep, Johannesburg in June 2020.
Over a year later in February 2021, Shoba was arrested. His arrest came just a day before the man hired to kill Pule was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment. Muzikayise Malephane entered a plea bargain during his trial to turn state witness against Shoba.
Malephane revealed that Shoba had hired him to murder Pule. The murder was allegedly planned to hide Pule’s pregnancy from Shoba’s wife. Malephane claimed that Shoba promised to give him R70 000 for murdering Pule.
ALSO READ: Tshegofatso Pule: Ntuthuko Shoba found guilty of her murder
