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The Johannesburg High Court diminished hopes of Tshegofatso Pule's convicted murderer Ntuthuko Shoba after his bid to overturn his conviction and sentence was rejected on Monday.
Judge Stuart Wilson assertively said he did not make a mistake in reviewing the evidence and ultimately sentencing him.
He added:
Shoba, through his lawyer Louis Bernard, made the application on Friday, citing that the court erred in sentencing the 34-year-old to life imprisonment after being jailed for the premeditated murder of Pule, which he orchestrated with the help of accomplice Muzikayise Malephane.
READ: ‘It felt like we were burying Tshegofatso Pule again’ - says family
Bernard also argued that Shoba did not have a bigger role to fulfil and, therefore, his sentence should be similar to Malephane's.
Malephane was handed a 20-year sentence for his role in Pule’s killing. He entered a guilty plea with the State and gave evidence that he was paid by Shoba to execute Pule’s killing.
City Press previously reported that Pule’s close friend and State witness Tshepiso Tsita gave crucial evidence, which ultimately led to Shoba’s conviction.
READ: Remembering Tshegofatso Pule’s last days
She relayed scenarios in relation to the threatening calls and text messages to Pule from a mysterious woman and a “strange” invitation for a job interview at McDonald's.
She also confirmed that Pule told her that she gave Shoba the number to help her decipher the woman behind the texts.
However, she refused to comment on whether Shoba indeed called that number or whether Pule went for an ultrasound scan with him.
READ: Why Shoba was convicted of masterminding murder
She also told the court that she didn’t know if Pule and Shoba went shopping for baby items together, and also did not know about the items which were bought.
She also relayed Pule's mysterious interview, when Pule had told her that she thought it was strange for a company to invite her for an interview during the Covid-19 pandemic, citing that it was the first occurrence of a dubious thing that happened in Pule's life at the time.
National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA) Phindi Mjonondwana said Shoba's application had no reasonable prospects of success.
"Indeed, as the NPA, we welcome the court's ruling. We have argued in court that no higher court can overturn this court's decision. We argued that the evidence we placed before the court was of sound nature, though we knew that the defence would want to tap into the credibility of one of our witnesses. That is why, as the NPA, enough evidence is gathered to corroborate the evidence he brought before the court," she said.
