Omotoso retrial in limbo as SCA stays silent on international charges
Defence lawyer Peter Daubermann had initially tried to have charges relating to oversees business trips dropped.
Timothy Omotoso, 60, and his co-accused Lusanda Sulani, 36, and Zukiswa Sitho, 28. Picture: Eugene Coetzee/The Herald
The retrial of rape-accused pastor Timothy Omotoso and his co-accused, Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho, has once more been postponed in the Eastern Cape High Court in Port Elizabeth.
The trial was scheduled to continue on Monday.
The accused face 97 charges, including rape, human trafficking and racketeering.
Included in the charges are offences that allegedly took place on international business trips.
Prosecutor Nceba Ntelwa asked the court on Monday to postpone the trial to a later date, pending the outcome of an outstanding Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) application relating to the international charges, which was submitted by the defence in August.
Defence lawyer Peter Daubermann had initially asked the High Court that those charges be dropped, arguing that the court did not have jurisdiction to try the accused on those charges.
Judge Irma Schoeman dismissed the application for exclusion of the international charges, saying the High Court was qualified to hear the matter.
But Daubermann petitioned the SCA to consider a request for leave to appeal Schoeman’s ruling.
The outcome is still outstanding.
The criminal trial has been postponed to October 21.
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