Murderer Ntuthuko Shoba appears to be hoping for a miracle in his inevitable sentencing.
This miracle would come in the form of an imprisonment term less than a life sentence.
Shoba, who orchestrated the brutal killing his heavily pregnant girlfriend, Tshegofatso Pule, faced nothing less than a life sentence because he was found guilty of premeditated murder.
The prescribed minimum sentence for premeditated murder in South Africa, as stipulated in Section 51 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, is life imprisonment.
Acting Judge Stuart Wilson pronounced at the Johannesburg High Court in March that he found Shoba guilty of premeditated murder, as charged by the State.
“… I find the accused guilty of the premeditated murder of Tshegofatso Pule,” said Judge Wilson.
But yesterday, more than a month after his conviction, Shoba forced the postponement of his pre-sentencing proceedings.
His legal team asked for a postponement because a pre-sentencing report was not yet ready. Shoba, a former JSE analyst, appointed a private probation officer to compile the report.
This report details a convict's personal circumstances and recommends whether or not they deserve a lenient sentence.
It is presented in court along with another report detailing the victim impact report. This report will look into the toll Pule’s brutal murder had on her family.
Shoba’s legal team asked for more time to prepare the pre-sentencing report. Judge Wilson gave them two more months, postponing the pre-sentencing hearing to July 28.
Pule's uncle, Itumeleng Katake, told journalists yesterday that he was not fazed by Shoba’s postponement request on grounds of an outstanding pre-sentencing report.
Katake, a practising lawyer in Johannesburg, said he did not expect Shoba to get anything less than a life sentence.
“Anything less than a life sentence would be an injustice to the family, I don't want to lie. From where I stand, I don’t see the court granting anything different,” Katake said.
“We’re not fazed. Again, it’s him requesting postponement. I would have loved to know the reasons why the pre-sentencing report could not be concluded.
“Again, we see a process whereby our family is being denied a chance of closure.”
Phindi Mjonondwane, regional spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, told journalists that the prosecutor’s decision not to oppose the postponement request was in the interests of justice.
“As the State, we’re ready to proceed,” said Mjonondwane. “Unfortunately, the accused had to be provided with the opportunity to prepare a report in mitigation of sentence.”
Shoba faced a harsher sentence than Muzikayise Malepane, the self-confessed gangster he contracted for R70 000 to kill Pule.
Malepane confessed that he shot and hung Pule in a secluded area in Roodepoort. He collected her from Shoba’s complex in Florida pretending to be an Uber driver.
Malepane was sentenced to 20 years behind bars last year after entering into a plea bargain with the State.
As part of the plea bargain, the 32-year-old Malephane spilled the beans on how Shoba planned Pule’s murder until its execution on June 4, 2020.
The 20-year sentence meant that Malepane could be paroled after serving just 10 years in jail.
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