Image: Deneesha Pillay
Controversial Pastor Timothy Omotoso appeared briefly in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday morning (12/04/18) where the case was postponed to May 15.
Accusations that the director of public prosecutions in Grahamstown was working at a snail’s pace saw the case postponed for the final time.
Omotoso, 59, and his co-accused, Zukiwa Sitho, 28, Lusanda Solani, 36, and Nobubele Mlindi, 31, appeared briefly in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court.
Their legal representative, Peter Daubermann, told the court the DPP kept promising the finalisation of the charges against Omotoso and his co-accused as well as the authorisation to have the case centralised, which had not yet happened.
“Sooner or later the case will have to be centralised . . . it seems the director [of public prosecutions] is working at a snail’s pace,” Daubermann said.
State prosecutor Zelda Swanepoel said she had received a phone call from the office of the DPP yesterday morning informing her that something needed to be amended and sent back to Pretoria. She said amendments needed to be made after the arrest of Mlindi and adding her to the charge sheet.
“The arrest of [Mlindi] will have an impact on the documents,” she said.
Swanepoel said before Mlindi’s arrest the DPP had been working to have the authorisation to add a charge of racketeering and to centralise the case by next week.
“The state requests a remand to May 15 in order to obtain the necessary documents.
“Hopefully we will then be able to send the matter to the high court,” Swanepoel said.
Mlindi was arrested last month and appeared in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court, where she was granted R2 000 bail.
It is alleged that between 2012 and 2016, while working for the Department of Health in Port Elizabeth, Mlindi recruited girls from around the country to reside at Omotoso’s house in KwaZulu-Natal.
It is further alleged that she, at certain periods, was the “house mother” for this house.
Omotoso was arrested on April 20 and charged with multiple counts related to the contravention of the Sexual Offences Act, including numerous charges of rape.
Some of the alleged victims were as young and 13.
Omotoso’s other co-accused, Zukiwa Sitho and Lusanda Solani, face the same charges and were granted R2 000 bail each last year.
Magistrate Thandeka Mashiyi granted the request to postpone the matter on the provision that it would be the final remand.