By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
A childhood friend of convicted killed Muzikayise Malephane’s told the High Court in Johannesburg he believes there were some inconsistencies in the testimonies during the Tshegofatso Pule murder trial, which has entered its second week in the High Court in Johannesburg.
Malephane’s childhood friend Muzi Khumalo took the stand on Monday.
Khumalo corroborated evidence by Malephane, who told the court that alleged mastermind Ntuthuko Shoba, did arrive at the house he shared with his girlfriend in June 2020.
However, Khumalo told the court when Malephane’s girlfriend got home from work at around 4pm him, Malepane and two others drove to Zondi in Soweto.
He said Melaphane was driving his girlfriend’s Jeep, the same one he used later that night to pick up Pule and kill her.
Shoba’s lawyer, Advocate Norman Makhubela, read out Malephane’s girlfriend’s statement, which stated that when she arrived home, Khumalo and the other two friends left, but Malephane stayed behind with her and left an hour or so to fetch a cousin.
Khumalo responded “no comment” to the details of her statement.
Meanwhile a cellphone expert is expected back in the dock on Tuesday after testifying on records in the Pule murder trial.
Warrant officer Andries van Tonder was tasked with collating information from several numbers, which are key to the investigation, including Pule’s on the day of her disappearance.
Pule was found shot dead and tied to a tree in Durban Deep in June 2020.
Van Tonder’s testimony places Pule at Shoba’s home on the evening she died. CCTV footage also confirms Pule left that same evening.
The warrant officer has testified that based on the information at his disposal, no activity was registered on Pule’s cellphone between 6:44 pm and 10:17 pm on the day she was killed.
Records also indicate Pule’s handset was located in the vicinity of Shoba’s home in Florida, Roodepoort, through the last text she received at 6:42 pm.
However, in his previous appearances, Shoba is quoted as saying deviating from their usual practice, Pule had called her own ride and informed him at around 10 pm that she was leaving.