- The trial of the alleged mastermind behind Tshegofatso Pule's murder continues in the Gauteng High Court.
- A key State witness testified that Shoba described Pule's pregnancy as a "problem".
- Muzikayise Malephane is currently under cross-examination.
The alleged mastermind in the murder of Tshegofatso Pule described her pregnancy as "iflop", a colloquial term for "a problem".
This was revealed during the trial of the man accused of masterminding the murder, Ntuthuko Shoba, after a key witness who carried out the murder described how Shoba allegedly presented the task of murdering Pule to him.
State witness Muzikayise Malephane testified during cross-examination in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday that he was riding in Shoba's car with him when was told of Pule's pregnancy.
Malephane testified:
He answered questions from Shoba's lawyer, advocate Norman Makhubela, who probed him on his earlier testimony that Shoba had contracted him to murder Pule.
Pule was murdered and left hanging from a tree in Roodepoort on 4 June 2020. Malephane admitted to the killing.
News24 reported that she was eight months pregnant at the time. Her murder sparked outrage across the country.
When probed further on the "problem" Shoba presented, Malephane said: "The problem was that he impregnated Pule and she did not want to do an abortion."
"So, we continued with the conversation and I said: 'Why don't you convince her, speak to her?' and he said she was being stubborn, refusing. He said that if Pule gave birth to this child, she is going to ruin a lot of things with his wife," Malephane testified.
READ | Tshegofatso Pule murder trial: Alleged mastermind wanted Pule to be hanged from Maraisburg Bridge
The defence questioned why Shoba had approached him with such a task when the pair were merely acquaintances.
"It was odd to me at first, but when I asked him, he said out of everyone he knows he trusts me," said Malephane, to which Makhubela said: "But you were acquaintances. You hardly knew each other."
Makhubela followed up by stating that this fact was not strange to him because he and Shoba "had a bond".
Shoba faces one count of murder, alternatively conspiracy to commit murder, and defeating the ends of justice.
He had pleaded not guilty to all charges when the trial commenced on Monday.
The trial continues.
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