Timothy Omotoso trial to resume in Port Elizabeth High Court

The trial of alleged sex-pest pastor Timothy Omotoso and his two co-accused is expected to resume in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Tuesday.

This, after the Constitutional Court dismissed the trio's application for leave to appeal against a Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling dismissing their application for leave to appeal against a decision by Port Elizabeth High Court judge Irma Schoeman to allow the trial, in its entirety, to be heard in Port Elizabeth.

At the restart of the prolonged trial in July, defence attorney for Omotoso, 60, and his co-accused Lusanda Sulani, 36, and Zukiswa Sitho, 28, said that the authorisation certificate to centralise the matter to the Port Elizabeth High Court was invalid and lacked vital information regarding the 97 charges they face.

They further said that the court did not have the jurisdiction to hear all the charges against them as some offences allegedly took place elsewhere in the country and abroad.

In its October 17 ruling, the SCA dismissed the application on the grounds that there were no reasonable prospects of success and that there were no other compelling reasons why an appeal should be heard.

After the outcome from the SCA, the trio approached the ConCourt in November to launched another petition.

Omotoso, Sulani and Sitho face 63 main, and 34 alternative charges, ranging from rape to sexual assault, racketeering and human trafficking.

In its January 6 ruling the ConCourt dismissed the application for leave to appeal against the decision by the SCA stating that the application should be dismissed as it did not engage this court’s jurisdiction and, in any event, had no reasonable prospects of success.