Tshegofatso Pule’s convicted killer Muzikayise Malephane was on Wednesday grilled before the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on why he had not been forthright and lied when he first issued a police statement after being arrested in 2020.

The murder trial of Ntuthuko Shoba entered its third day where he is accused of having masterminded the death of his former lover by hiring Malephane to kill her.

Malephane, who has pleaded guilty and turned state witness, returned to the stand to give details of the night in which he allegedly fetched Pule from Shoba's house.

Pule was found hanging from a tree in Roodepoort after having been shot and hanged, admittedly by Malephane.

State prosecutor Faghre Mohammed however questioned why Malephane had lied about Pule’s death when he was first arrested on June 15 2020.

“At that time I was confused. I was in trauma. I was in another state [of mind] and I did not know what was what, hence in some of the statements I lied,” he said.

Malephane earlier told the court how the plan to kill Pule had been hatched and how he got instructions from Shoba on pickup details.

“I was sitting at home waiting for a go-ahead call to go and pick up Pule. He then called and I left my house and went to Florida. He told me that I can go and wait for him at the gate of the complex.”

Malephane said he had been driving a silver-grey Jeep which would be used to pick up Pule under the pretence that it was an Uber requested by Shoba for her.

“The Jeep was going to be a decoy as if he had requested [it] for her,” he told the court.

A sobbing Malephane, who took deep breaths as he was made to look at the exhibits of the pickup  as well as Pule’s body, was asked by Mohammed if he wanted to take a comfort break, but he declined.

Ahead of his testimony, acting judge Stuart Wilson had instructed correctional services officers to take off Malephane's shackles as  he wanted him to be without limitations when he gave testimony.

Asked if he had known that the complex where Shoba  stayed had cameras, Malephane said he had been told that there were cameras but that they would not capture the vehicle’s registration number.

He confirmed that he had then taken Pule, shot her dead and then  hanged her.

Malephane said he  only spoke with Shoba the following morning when Shoba asked if he had finally killed Pule. 

“I called him and he asked if the job was done. But he was concerned about the whereabouts of her phone. I never saw her phone,” he said.

Malephane said he had on June 6 met Shoba physically in Meadowlands, Soweto, where the two discussed the payment of the R70 000 which would be paid by Shoba for the hit.

“He told me that he was still arranging money,” Malephane said.