• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
Home South Africa

Cheryl Zondi to continue responding to Omotoso’s gruelling defence

16 October 2018, 8:42 AM  |
Anda Nqonji Anda Nqonji |  @SABCNews
Cheryl Zondi, 22, weeps as she testifies during the trial against controversial Nigerian pastor Timothy Omotoso and his co-accused Zukiswa Sitho and Lusanda Sulani at the Port Elizabeth High Court.

Cheryl Zondi, 22, weeps as she testifies during the trial against controversial Nigerian pastor Timothy Omotoso and his co-accused Zukiswa Sitho and Lusanda Sulani at the Port Elizabeth High Court.

Image: Gallo Images

Cheryl Zondi, 22, weeps as she testifies during the trial against controversial Nigerian pastor Timothy Omotoso and his co-accused Zukiswa Sitho and Lusanda Sulani at the Port Elizabeth High Court.

The court case of the controversial and flamboyant pastor Timothy Omotoso is set to resume at the Port Elizabeth High Court on Tuesday.

The first witness Cheryl Zondi is expected to continue answering questions under a gruelling cross-examination by Omotoso’s defence lawyer.

Omotoso could not stop shaking his head, as Cheryl Zondi’s cross examination got under way.

Zondi said the vibrancy and youthfulness of the Jesus Dominion International church is what attracted her to the institution. She appeared confident during her cross-examination, although emotional at times.

Answering gruelling questions by the defence lawyer, she insisted that she did not have a love life before the controversial pastor allegedly sexually assaulted her.

Zondi described Omotoso’s behaviour during her first encounter with him as inappropriate. She said she joined the church at the age of 13, and that Omotoso had first sexually abused her when she was 14-years-old.

Zondi said she did not want to remember some of the details of the alleged sexual abuse she suffered. She testified that she never resisted when Omotoso allegedly sexually assaulted her, because he said she would experience the wrath of God if she refused.

She also said she couldn’t leave the mission house in Durban, where the alleged sexual assault occurred, because she was entirely dependent on Omotoso for accommodation and transport.

The defence accused Zondi of fabricating her evidence, as her verbal and written statements did not tally with her testimony in court.

Judge Mandela Makuala intervened several times, disallowing several intimate questions asked by the defence, saying some of the questions were unfair to the witness.

Meanwhile, Coordinator of the African National Congress (ANC) Women’s League in the Eastern Cape Nontombi Nama says she is not happy with how the defence was handling the victim.

Nama says, “So far the proceedings are going fine but I’m not happy about the way the guy who’s defending Omotoso is handling the victim, because she is young, vulnerable and disturbed, but this attorney keeps on repeating one and the same thing, trying his best so that she can be confused.”

“We are not happy because as we see it now the young girl is suffering. I don’t know how many times, because she suffered when she was raped, emotionally, no she is being prosecuted as if she is the one who is in the wrong,” adds Nama.

A total of 49 witnesses have been lined up for the trial.

Share article
Tags: Cheryl ZondiEastern CapePort ElizabethTim Omotoso
Previous Post

Service delivery stopped in municipalities that invested in VBS

Next Post

Why inclusive growth should be at the heart of policy priorities

Related Posts

Water & Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu briefs media.

Minister Mchunu to receive progress reports on North West water challenges

6 February 2023, 7:01 AM
Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane is seen interacting with the school management team at the Geluksdal Secondary School in Brakpan on 03 February 2023 following the fatal stabbing of a learner.

Emotional stress, gangs behind recent spate of violence in Gauteng schools

5 February 2023, 9:05 PM
On this day in 2016, a container at the mine entrance collapsed and buried Yvonne Mnisi, Pretty Nkambule and Solomon Nyirenda.

Action SA to compel government, Lily Mine owners to retrieve container trapped underground

5 February 2023, 7:13 PM

Mass killings haunt Eastern Cape residents

5 February 2023, 5:40 PM
A graphic about gender-based violence

‘Implement policies to end GBV scourge’

5 February 2023, 5:02 PM
File Image: Rescue workers and vehicles stand by at the scene of the Lily mine collapse near Barberton in Mpumalanga on 05 February 2016.

Families of Lily Mine victims still searching for answers seven years on

5 February 2023, 10:10 AM
Next Post
Rating agencies look at economic strength as a key consideration together with institutional strength and fiscal strength...

Why inclusive growth should be at the heart of policy priorities

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • Registration at Unisa closes on Friday, but management says no need to panic
  • Green comet to be visible from SA next week
  • VIDEO: Mabuza resigns as SA Deputy President
  • Budding Stellenbosch FC star reportedly stabbed to death
  • Shock over proposed SA sponsorship of Tottenham Hotspur
  • Parts of the Northern Cape to be exempted from rolling blackouts
  • Registration at Unisa closes on Friday, but management says no need to panic
  • VIDEO | St Benedict College’s Matric learner gets 11 distinctions
  • Limpopo matriculant from child-headed household attains diploma pass
  • Female circumcision practice thriving in Eastern Cape
  • Tributes pour in for Stellenbosch FC player Oshwin Andries
  • Kellerman, Bantwini, Zikode win Grammy award
  • Mabuza asked to remain in his role until transition finalised
  • ‘If you are lazy, stay home’, Mbalula advises ANC members
  • Calls for national shutdown a ‘do or die’ situation, says EFF deputy president

LATEST

[File Image] : Members of the Democratic Alliance.
  • Politics

DA wants reasons behind ANC’s past decisions on key appointments


Rescuers carry out a person from a collapsed building after an earthquake in Adana, Turkey February 6, 2023.
  • World

Major earthquake strikes Turkey, Syria; hundreds dead, many trapped


Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) in the second half against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
  • Sport

LeBron’s record chase hottest item in Hollywood; courtside ticket hits $90,000


[File Image] Premier Sisi Ntombela addresses the closing of Child Protection Week 2018 in Ladybrand, Free State.
  • Politics

Recalling of Premier Sisi Ntombela not on the cards: ANC Free State


  • Business

LIVE | Mining Indaba 2023


A man walks past by a collapsed building after an earthquake in Malatya, Turkey February 6, 2023.
  • World

Major earthquake strikes Turkey, Syria; scores dead, many trapped


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2023

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2022

Previous Service delivery stopped in municipalities that invested in VBS
Next Why inclusive growth should be at the heart of policy priorities