Khaya Mthethwa offers to intervene after a fellow pastor is accused of rape

Media personality and Oasis Church pastor Khaya Mthethwa has offered to mediate between two members of his church after a young lady took to social media to accuse one of the pastors of the church of rape.

The young woman, named Zinhle, took to Twitter to recount her ordeal after a brief relationship with the accused.

According to Zinhle, prior to getting into the relationship, the pair made it clear that there would be no sexual intercourse during the relationship as Zinhle is both a virgin and an avid Christian who does not believe in sex before marriage.

However, according to Zinhle, things took a turn for the worse one evening in late April 2019 when they were spending time together.

She alleges that the accused forced himself on her and explained that she immediately reported the incident to the church with the hopes that they would help her as one of their congregants.

She further lamented the lack of support she received from a church that she had devoted so much of herself to and added that she received the same cold shoulder when she turned to the South African Police Service to officially lay a charge against the accused.

A member of Khaya Mthethwa’s Oasis Church recounts her alleged rape ordeal at the hands of one of the pastors of the church | Image: Twitter

Upon reading Zinhle’s thread, another Twitter user tagged Mthethwa in the thread asking what he had to say about this, to which he responded.

“Hey, we are currently dealing with this horrible matter concerning Zinhle and Ngcebo and I will respond officially. I personally am in contact with Zinhle.”

Khaya Mthethwa offers to intervene after one of the members of his church accuses a pastor of rape | Image: Twitter

Though he did not commit to a timeline of when he would respond, Mthethwa shared a statement issued by the church this morning. It, however, made no mention of the consequences suffered by the accused for his alleged actions.

The statement did, however, decry gender-based violence and attempt to position the church as being against the abuse of women and children.

The church further added that they have decided to “align” themselves with local law enforcement to provide support in dealing with GBV.

The church then listed the actions it has taken since Zinhle first laid her complaint.

Oasis Church statement regarding rape allegations levelled against one of its pastors | Image: Twitter

In responding to questions about the statement on Twitter. Mthethwa revealed that the accused had been placed on a suspension of sorts pending an internal investigation by the church.

He was relieved of his duties pending the investigation.

— Khaya Mthethwa (@khayamthethwa) August 18, 2020

READ NEXT: Video of Khaya Mthethwa opening up about his marriage surfaces

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.