Staff Reporter.
The man accused of ordering a hit on his pregnant girlfriend Tshegofatso Pule returned to the witness stand on Tuesday.
Ntuthuko Shoba had to testify on Monday after his legal team’s discharge application failed.
He has been accused of hiring Muzikayise Malephane, who confessed to the crime and is serving a 20-year jail term, to kill Pule.
Shoba testified that he and Pule were “chilling” while she was on her phone most of the time. According to him, she later told him her “ride was outside”.
“That was a surprise to me because usually I take her home or call an Uber (sic). When we walked out, she said ‘My ride is outside’. I was expecting to see an Uber [but] I saw a Jeep.
“The window rolled down and she had a brief interaction with the driver. I thought they knew each other,” he told the court.
Shoba said he was standing at the gate while the Jeep was parked approximately seven to eight metres from the gate.
“Then she said goodbye and got into the front seat of the car, and I went back to the house. I got a little comfortable because she went straight to the front passenger seat,” he added.
Shoba further stated that while he had seen one person in the vehicle, he could not identify the driver because the driver was wearing a cap and a mask.
“I sent her a text to say something along the lines [of telling] me when she gets home – sometimes she would not tell me when she gets home. I did not get any response,” he added.
Pule’s convicted killer, Malephane, earlier testified that he had driven the Jeep on that day. Shoba was implicated in Pule’s murder by Malephane after the State secured a guilty plea from him in January last year.
A heavily pregnant Pule was last seen alive on 4 June 2020. She was shot in Noordgesig and later left hanging from a tree in Roodepoort.
Shoba’s testimony has been largely based on denials and disputes.
The trial continues.