Sibonelo Zwane
There were loud cheers and clapping in the Johannesburg High Court as Ntuthuko Shoba was sentenced to life imprisonment for hiring a hitman to kill his eight months pregnant girlfriend.
Tshegofatso Pule was found shot and hanging from a tree in Roodepoort after she was murdered on 4 June 2020.
Acting judge Stuart Wilson detailed his reasons for keeping Shoba behind bars for life for the role he played in Pule’s brutal death.
“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 Wilson.
“Pule’s murder was premeditated and that’s why I found Shoba guilty on the 25th of March. I am therefore required to sentence Shoba to life imprisonment unless there are circumstances forcing me to decide otherwise,” said Wilson.
As the judge handed the verdict, loud cheers and clapping were heard from the court benches.
Wislosn said Pule was an optimistic, kind, and fashionable person – and her loss has devastated all those that loved her.
“Her family has suffered pain and psychological trauma, and each of her close relatives will live under a burden of loss for the rest of their lives. She was a vulnerable woman that needed love and Shoba was the love she thought she needed,” he said.
Pule’s uncle Tumisang Katake told Scrolla.Africa that just this morning the family was talking about how baby Kamano would have turned two this year.
“It is painful to us as a family because we had made plans for the baby. We were excited. Tshego died 8 months pregnant so you can imagine the anticipation everyone had. Today felt like it was her funeral all over again,” he said.
Katake added that only now can the family start the mourning process.
Image and video source: Everson Luhanga
