Court dismisses Shoba application to appeal conviction, sentence
The High Court in Johannesburg has denied an application by convicted murderer Ntuthuko Shoba to appeal his conviction and sentence.
The court handed down its ruling in the leave to appeal application on Monday.
Shoba is serving a life sentence for orchestrating the murder of his pregnant girlfriend Tshegofatsho Pule.
Pule's body was found hanging from a tree in Roodepoort with a gunshot wound to her chest in June 2020.
Judge Stuart Wilson said Shoba's reasoning failed to convince the court.
"The primary question before me is whether there is a reasonable prospect that I was materially mistaken in putting together the evidence that led to the conclusion that I reached or applying the law in that evidence.
"But on the material before me, I cannot conclude that Mr Shoba prospects of success will rise even to the remote. In those circumstances, there is no sufficient compelling reason to grant leave of appeal.
"To do so, would be no more than an exercise in judiciary vanity, and one which will only lengthen the dull, dragging agony that these proceedings have imposed on Miss Pule's family and friends."
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