By Oluwaseun Sonde
South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa has reacted to the life sentence handed down to Ntuthuko Shoba for the premeditated murder of Tshegofatso Pule and her unborn child.
In a statement released by the Presidency after the conviction on Friday, Ramaphosa described it as befitting, appropriate, and justice for the two innocent lives Shoba took so cruelly.
On Friday the Gauteng High Court, South Africa, sentenced Shoba to life imprisonment for conspiring with a hitman in 2020 to kill his 28 year old girlfriend, who was eight months pregnant. In March 2022 Shoba was convicted of premeditated murder.
The President said, "as a nation we welcome this sentence that sends the strongest of messages that perpetrators of violence against women and children will face the full might of the law,”
Ramaphosa who further said the sentence should serve as a warning to those who conspire with others to commit acts of violence against women and children.
Added that, "this was a crime of particular callousness, by a man who had made several attempts on the life of a woman who was carrying his child.
"The discovery of Tshegofatso’s body hanging from a tree was a horror from which we are struggling to recover as a nation,” the President said.
As South Africa prepare to commemorate Women’s Month in August, the President emphasized on gender-based violence which remains the biggest obstacle to achieving real and meaningful gender equality in the country.
Ramaphosa called on law-enforcement authorities and the entire criminal justice system to act without fear or favour to ensure that victims of gender-based violence are protected, and that perpetrators are dealt with appropriately.
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