A little over a week since Tshegofatso Pule was found hanging in a tree with a gaping stab wound on her left breast, police have finally closed in and arrested a suspect.
The veld in Roodepoort, Johannesburg, will always be marked with the tragedy it hosted between Thursday 4 June and Sunday, when the body of the 28-year-old mom-to-be was discovered.
Tshegofatso Pule was a month away from delivering her first child when her life was taken away from her. She was last seen alive at an apartment complex on Westlake Road in Florida, a suburb in Roodepoort.
It is believed she had left her boyfriend’s residence in an Uber — other conflicting reports claim it was a grey Jeep — after an argument.
The manner in which her body was found three days later sparked international outrage and exposed the government’s failure to address gender-based violence in South Africa.
Tshegofatso Pule: Who is the suspect that’s been arrested?
A day after friends and family members of the deceased submitted a memorandum of demands to the police, it was revealed that a suspect has been placed under arrest and charged with the cold-blooded murder of Pule.
Police had been tracking down the Muzikayise Malephane’s movements for a number of days and the decision to take him into custody came when it was discovered that he was attempting to flee to Mpumalanga.
While it has not been confirmed, it doesn’t escape the realm of possibility to consider how difficult it would have been to track the suspect if he managed to make into Mpumalanga, a province that borders Eswatini and Mozambique.
Alas, Malephane appeared before the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday afternoon, where he pleaded not guilty and asked for more time to acquire the services of a lawyer.
We also understand that the suspect has turned down his right to apply for bail.
Therefore, Malephane will be remanded in custody until the next court appearance which has been set for Wednesday 24 June.
This is how Pule’s uncle — speaking on behalf of the family — reacted to the progression of the murder case.
