Inquiry launched into following Omotoso acquittal

JUSTICE and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has received a report from the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Shamila Batohi into circumstances that led to the acquittal of Nigerian televangelist, Timothy Omotoso.

- SIYABONGA SITHOLE

This comes after the Cultural, Religious and Linguistic (CRL) Commission, alongside the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) yesterday jointly announced the establishment of an inquiry to probe systemic failures in the justice system.

The three Chapter 9 institutions have indicated that they are not satisfied by the recent judgment by the High Court in the Eastern Cape which acquitted the rape-accused pastor of more than 32 charges of rape and human trafficking.

For more than eight years, the 66-year-old pastor and his two-co-accused, Lusanda Sulani and Zikiswa Sitho, faced multiple charges including racketeering, trafficking in persons, rape, and sexual assault, with Judge Irma Schoeman revealing that the previous prosecutors had acted improperly and had failed to cross-examine the accused adequately.