By Staff Reporter
news@alexreporter.co.za
The Eastern Cape high court in Gqeberha has dismissed an application by televangelist Timothy Omotoso, 63, and his two co-accused, Lusanda Sulani, 41, and Zikiswa Sitho, 33, to have evidence deemed inadmissible.
Omotoso had argued that the evidence was obtained unconstitutionally.
The court has upheld the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA’s) position, allowing the evidence to be considered in the trial.
Eastern Cape NPA Regional Spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said the court’s decision comes after previous applications by the televangelist for five special entries for a mistrial. These included an application made on January 16 in which the defence asked the judge to reconsider her previous judgment on the application for discharge according to Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
“Judge Irma Schoeman had previously dismissed their application for discharge, and the state was ready to proceed with the remaining proceedings in the trial, meaning that the accused must present their case and they will be subject to cross-examination by the state,” Tyali said.
The trial has had numerous delays since the arrest of Omotoso in April 2017.
According to Tyali, the delays caused some witnesses to no longer want to give evidence as they have since moved on with their lives and are not interested in reliving their experiences in court. That has led to the reduction of the charges from 63.
Omotoso and his co-accused are facing 32 counts, including racketeering, trafficking in people, rape and sexual assault. He was denied bail while the two South African women he is charged with are out on bail.
“It is alleged that Omotoso, who was addressed as “the man of God”, was the leader of the Jesus Dominion International (JDI) church and his co-accused were his assistants. JDI had major branches in SA, Nigeria and Israel, with Durban being its headquarters in the country,” he said.
Tyali said complainants include congregants, employees or people selected to participate in church activities when they were recruited under the pretext that they would benefit spiritually or improve the quality of their lives.
“Omotoso allegedly, directly or indirectly through his co-accused, paid and arranged for the complainants to travel to his hotels in Durban, Israel or Nigeria. However, once the complainants arrived, Omotoso or his assistants would inform them of house rules which included that their cellphones be switched off, they were not to contact their male companions and they were to obey his instructions,” Tyali said.
The complainants and other female church members were allegedly kept in one room where they also slept.
Tyali said Omotoso would allegedly select one of the complainants to go to his private bedroom, where he raped or sexually assaulted them.
The matter has been remanded to December 9.
This article was first published by SowetanLIVE.
