Tshegofatso Pule, 28, who was found stabbed and hanged in a veld in Roodepoort. She was eight months pregnant.
PHOTO: Twitter via @Keba99
- The Sunday Times reported a man who was last seen
with Tshegofatso Pule has secured himself a lawyer. - Police Minister Bheki Cele said no one was arrested
yet in connection with her death but the police have the name of a suspect. - Pule’s family says they have seen CCTV footage
which shows her allegedly getting into a Jeep outside a man’s house.
The man who last saw Tshegofatso Pule alive has
secured a lawyer, according to the Sunday Times.
Pule’s body was found hanging from a tree in
Roodepoort, Gauteng, on Monday. Pule, who was eight months pregnant, had been
stabbed in the chest.
She was laid to rest on
Thursday.
According to the Sunday Times, the father of Pule’s unborn
child, Ntuthuko Shoba, was in a love triangle and hid his relationship with
Pule from his family and his fiancée. Shoba only revealed his involvement with
Pule after he was told the 28-year-old woman was missing.
In an interview with the
publication, the JSE analyst said he had retained a lawyer.
“I thought I should get
an attorney because she [Pule] was last seen leaving my place,” he told
the Sunday Times.
Police interview
He would not answer further
questions, instead directing the publication to his lawyer. He did not provide
contact details, saying the attorney would contact the Sunday Times. This did
not happen at the time of publishing, the newspaper reported.
Pule’s family said they had
last seen her last Thursday when she left her Meadowlands home in Soweto to
meet Shoba.
Pule’s uncle, Tumisang Katake,
told the Sunday Times the police had shown the family CCTV footage taken
outside Shoba’s home. In it, Pule can allegedly be seen getting into a grey Jeep
on the Thursday night in question. Shoba did not go with her.
Shoba’s father, Mzwakhe, said
police had interviewed his son.
“He spent two or three
hours with the top brass of the police. They took all the details and also
viewed the footage of his place,” he told the publication.
In an interview with eNCA on Saturday, Police Minister Bheki Cele
said no one had been arrested yet for Pule’s murder.
“We know the name, we
know the surname of the person we are chasing. We hope soon that we will be
announcing that we have managed to arrest that person,” the minister said.
Loving and humble
At her funeral on Thursday, Pule was described as a
loving and humble person who was looking forward to giving birth in the coming
weeks.
Family representative Grace
Mbobo said Pule was a beautician who was talkative, adding she was also
apologetic when in the wrong. She said Pule was generally afraid of going out.
“We were excited that she
would bring another grandchild to the family. We have over 38 grandchildren at
our home, and we had already counted the coming one but death, one with no
shame, where is thy still?”
On Saturday, President Cyril
Ramaphosa issued a statement condemning the “surge in the murder of women and children”.
The president said since the
country entered Alert Level 3 of the Covid-19 lockdown on 1 June, there has
been an increase in gender-based violence and femicide.
“According to the SAPS,
there has been an increase in violent crime, especially murders, since we
entered Alert level 3. We need to understand what factors are fuelling this
terrible trend and, as society as a whole, address them urgently,” the
president said.
– Compiled by Vanessa Banton
