Shoba ‘had trust fund to pay for Pule’s hit’ court hears

Ntuthuko Shoba was apparently planning on using a multimillion-rand trust fund to pay for the hit on Tshegofatso Pule.

This according to Muzikayise Malephane, the man whom Shoba allegedly hired for the job. On his second day testifying at Shoba’s trial at the High Court in Johannesburg, Malephane was cross-examined on whether he and Shoba had made any arrangements regarding when he would receive the R70 000 he says he was promised for killing Pule.

He responded in the negative, but said he hadn’t been worried about not getting paid.

“The reason why I trusted that he was going to pay me was when we met and he asked me to assist – when he told me he wanted Ms Pule to die – he told me about money from a trust fund he had received amounting to R8 million,” he said.

ALSO READ: Tshegofatso Pule’s killer tells court he was ‘greedy’

Malephane pleaded guilty to Pule’s murder last February, but took the stand this week to testify against Shoba. Pule was found shot in the chest and hanged from a tree in Durban Deep in June 2020. She was eight months pregnant at the time.

Recounting the initial discussion between himself and Shoba during which the latter first broached the subject of
eliminating Pule, Malephane on Wednesday said they were in the car on the way to the shops.

“He said the flop was that he had impregnated his girlfriend and she was refusing to terminate,” he said.

“He then continued and said if Ms Pule gave birth to that child, he would lose his wife and he would lose money.”

The trial continues.