Pregnant Tshegofatso Pule was threatened before her murder, court told

A heavily pregnant Tshegofatso Pule received repeated threats to leave her lover Ntuthuko Shoba, who is in the dock for allegedly masterminding her brutal killing.

As the trial finally got under way in the high court in Johannesburg on Monday, Pule’s close friend Tshepiso Tsita took the stand as the first witness and detailed how Shoba’s wife, Rosetta Moatshe, allegedly threatened Pule in the weeks before her death and warned  her to “leave her man”.

She also allegedly threatened to “deal with her” and “visit her workplace”.

Pule was killed on June 12 2020.

Tsita told the court that Shoba had used her bank account several times to send money to Pule, who she said was dependent on Shoba for her financial upkeep.

With her evidence led by state prosecutor Faghre Mohammed, Tsita told the court that Pule had also been unhappy about Shoba's relationship with Moatshe as “she was not getting enough time” with Shoba, who pleaded not guilty to the charges on Monday.

Tsita said a series of SMSes raised red flags for Pule and increased her fears for her safety.  “She did not feel safe. She said she felt like she was being watched,” Tsita told the court.

“One of the messages was from a lady called Zandile or Zanele asking if Tshegofatso was looking for a job and it was a makeup job... She would teach people how to apply makeup. She said yes, she was interested and then the lady said she would call her but she called with a private number.”

Shoba is facing charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and defeating the ends of justice.

Pule, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her killing, was found hanging from a tree with multiple stab wounds in Roodepoort.

After her killing, Sowetan reported that an initial attempt to kidnap and kill Pule failed after she did not turn up for a false job interview in Mondeor set up by Muzikayise Malephane, who was convicted of her killing, and another woman.

Malephane, who has turned state witness and accuses Shoba of hiring him to kill Pule, is expected to take the stand and give his testimony on Tuesday.

He is serving 20 years behind bars for his role in Pule’s killing.

The court also heard on Monday how Shoba had allegedly told Pule that his father wanted a DNA test to be conducted on their unborn child before she was sent to their home for the payment of damages.

Shoba’s lawyer Norman Makhubela told the court that his client's version of events was that he had not been in a romantic relationship with Pule at the time of her death but that he had been taking care of her financially since she was carrying his child.

“My instruction is that Pule had accepted that the only thing that was keeping them together at the time was the fact that he was supporting their child that was due in July. Otherwise there was no relationship,” Makhubela said.

Makhubela said Shoba had decided against visiting Pule’s home after her death and her funeral as her aunt and brother accused him of being responsible for her murder.

“Her aunt had sent him a message after her death in which she said usuyitholile into oyifunayo [you got what you wanted]. Her brother accused him of killing her and said he would get him. He [Shoba] then did not go to her home,” Makhubela said.