Pastor Zondo rape case: High Court to rule on his application for dismissal of charges
The archbishop of the Rivers of Living Water Church is accused of raping and sexually assaulting several women who were his congregants and staff.
Picture: Rejoice Ndlovu/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - Disgraced pastor Stephen Zondo will return to the Pretoria High Court on Friday morning to learn his fate, as he seeks to have the rape charges against him dismissed.
Zondo brought the application before the court in February.
The archbishop of the Rivers of Living Water Church is accused of raping and sexually assaulting several women who were his congregants and staff.
Zondo has denied all the allegations against him, including the alleged rape of a seven-year-old girl in 1980.
However, his bare denial is not enough for him to be let off the hook, in the form of a discharge according to Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
Zondo’s lawyers have the task of convincing the court that there is no evidence to suggest that he committed the offence.
If his bid fails, the defence will open its case and call witnesses to the stand.