Court dismisses Omotoso's application to have charges against him dropped

Televangelist Timothy Omotoso's application to have charges against him and his co-accused discharged according to Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act, has been dismissed on Tuesday.   

The Gqeberha High Court concluded the alleged irregular actions by the prosecutor, who has since been removed from the trial, could not be said to have rendered the trial unfair.

Omotoso, 63, Lusanda Sulani, 41, and Zikiswa Sitho, 33, face 32 charges including racketeering, trafficking in persons, rape and sexual assault. 

The disgraced pastor, who was known as “the man of God”, was the leader of the Jesus Dominion International (JDI) church and his co-accused were his assistants. The JDI had major branches in SA, Nigeria and Israel, with Durban being its headquarters in the country. 

The National Prosecuting Authority's regional spokesperson, Luxolo Tyali, said the trial has experienced numerous delays since the arrest of the Nigerian national, Omotoso, in April 2017.

"The delays caused some witnesses to no longer want to proceed with giving evidence as they indicated they have since moved on with their lives and are not interested in reliving their experiences in court,” said Tyali.  

This has reportedly led to the reduction of witnesses who wanted to testify and the number of charges dwindling from 63 to 32.

“The complainants were either congregants, employees or persons selected to take part in the activities of the church 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 hotel, 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 or told not to contact male companions and were to further abide by his instructions.   

The complainants and other female church members were allegedly kept in one room where they also slept.  Omotoso would allegedly select one of the complainants to go to his private bedroom where he raped or sexually assaulted them,” said Tyali. 

 The trial has been postponed to next month for the defence case.