Cheryl Zondi, a key witness in the case against Nigerian pastor, Timothy Omotoso, was overcome with emotion in court after he was found not guilty of r3pe and human trafficking.
The High Court in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, South Africa acquitted the 66-year-old pastor and his co-accused, Lusanda Sulani and Zikiswa Sitho, on Wednesday, April 2, 2025.
The trio faced 32 counts of charges which included racketeering, trafficking in persons, rape and sexual assault.
The ruling, which has shocked many, left Zondi visibly distressed as she reacted to the verdict
It was further gathered in 2018 that Zondi, who claimed she was sexually assaulted by pastor Omotoso, waived her right to anonymity in the trial because she wanted the world to know the type of person he is.
“We took it upon ourselves to go through a humiliating process to have our dignity stripped from us in public, to be called names and have lies and all sorts of fabrications spread about us online, walking in the streets.
Our lives have never been the same since we came out about this and one has to wonder if this is what the last years have come down to,” she said.
Earlier , after nearly eight years of courtroom battles, the Nigerian pastor who is based in South Africa, Timothy Omotoso has been found not guilty of rape and human trafficking. The ruling, delivered by the Gqeberha High Court on Wednesday, also cleared his co-accused, Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho, both members of his Jesus Dominion International (JDI) Church.
Omotoso had faced 63 charges, with Sulani and Sitho accused of recruiting young women to stay at the church’s Durban mission houses, where allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced.
However, Judge Irma Schoeman ruled that the state failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, criticising the cross-examination of witnesses. Following the verdict, the accused knelt in prayer as their supporters celebrated the outcome.
With religious leaders often in the headlines for controversy, this case has sparked intense debate in South Africa.