Nearly eight years since his arrest, a drawn-out trial plagued with delays and numerous failed attempts at bail, the verdict in the Pastor Timothy Omotoso rape and human trafficking trial looms.
The media, staunch supporters of Omotoso’s Jesus Dominion International (JDI) Church and protesters filled the gallery of the Gqeberha high court on Wednesday morning for closing arguments from the state and the defence ahead of judgment.
But after years of testimony, including witnesses being called to the stand for a second time to relive their trauma when it was ordered the trial start afresh, it all came to a head on Wednesday — and the decision to acquit or convict now lies in the hands of the judge.
Judge Irma Schoeman is expected to deliver her ruling on April 2.
Omotoso, 66, stands accused alongside church members Lusanda Sulani, 35, and Zukiswa Sitho, 41.
Calling for all three to be convicted, the state submitted that it had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and that the versions of the accused, being bare denials, should be considered as false.
Sulani and Sitho are alleged to have played a major role in recruiting young women who would join the church and stay at the JDI mission houses in Durban where Omotoso is accused of sexually assaulting several of them and making untoward sexual comments about them.
They collectively face a total 63 charges.
All three accused have insisted on their innocence from the get-go.
Omotoso maintained that he was a devout and influential religious leader who came to SA on God’s command.
His ministry focused on prayer, fasting and helping the less fortunate, he said.
Defence attorney Peter Daubermann described Omotoso as an “entirely satisfactory witness”.
“He did not contradict himself in any way and there are no inconsistencies in his version.
“There are also no improbabilities in his version.
“Moreover, no contradictions, inconsistencies or improbabilities in his version were put to him during cross-examination [from the state],” Daubermann told Schoeman.
“There is, in the circumstances, no basis on which the court can find that the accused’s exculpatory version is not reasonably possibly true.
“Upon a conspectus of the evidence as a whole, it cannot be said that the defence case is demonstrably false or inherently so improbable as to be rejected as false.
“Even if the state case stood as a completely acceptable and unshaken edifice — which it does not — the reasonable possibility remains that the versions of the [three] accused are substantially true.”
Daubermann said the state had failed to discharge the onus of proof on any of the charges against the accused, that it was reasonably possible that the accused were innocent, and that they ought to be acquitted on all charges.
State advocate Joel Cesar, meanwhile, said the complainants’ versions of how they came to join JDI were similar in nature.
“Most of the complainants were hand-picked after being noticed by [Omotoso],” Cesar said.
He said it all started with phone calls to compliment them on their looks, it then progressed with promises of financial assistance, and then he “used and manipulated some of the complainants’ strong belief in the word of God to recruit and sexually assault them”.
“The offences committed are connected in that they were part of a planned, ongoing, continuous or repeated occurrence,” Cesar said.
“The victims did not receive any of what [Omotoso] promised but were instead sexually exploited by him with the assistance of [Sulani and Sitho].”
While Sulani and Sitho are out on bail, Omotoso will remain behind bars as he awaits judgment.
Once proceedings had concluded, community leader Pamela Mabini, who has attended court proceedings throughout the protracted trial and lent support to the complainants, said it had been a long journey.
“I’ve been supporting the victims throughout this process but the Omotoso case has been a challenging one, and it’s important that justice is served for the victims and their families.
“Let’s hope the judgment brings some closure to those who have been affected.
“When I was approached by some of the victims when they needed my intervention, I committed myself to be on their side no matter what.
“Their pain hit me hard and I had to do something,” she said.
The Herald
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