‘There’s nothing I can say,’ says Bishop Zondo following sexual assault allegations

Controversial pastor Bishop Bafana Zondo says he has been subjected to a court of public opinion, as the CRL commission wraps up its investigations into allegations of sexual assault levelled against him on Thursday.

Speaking to News24, Zondo said he wasn’t sure whether he would present himself before the commission as he felt he had already been judged.

Zondo said: “I think I am already being judged because I think what they have done is to do a public court… so I will just wait for their outcome. What they did is they called the papers and I don’t know whether they were doing an investigation or they were exposing me.”

Over the course of three days, the commission heard harrowing testimony from victims who alleged they were sexually assaulted by the Bishop and that he used some sort of supernatural powers to control their lives and commit acts of “evil”.

Zondo alleged these allegations had brought violence in his life, however, he did not elaborate on this claim.

“You can see that they have insinuated violence against my life, my life is now in danger, there’s nothing I can say I will wait for them,” he said.

Summons

The commission’s chair, Professor David Mosoma, said that several people, whose names came up during testimonies, would be summoned, but this did not include Zondo.

“Zondo has not been summoned; we will write to him. We only summon people when they don’t appear. Sometimes, as you have seen, [we have] to wait for people who do not come and so we serve summons to be sure that that individual will be there. There are a number of names that have been raised in the course of (hearing testimonies) from the witnesses and we feel that as a commission going forward we need to get as much information as possible,” said Mosoma.

Zondo said he had not heard from the commission and was waiting on communication from them to decide if he was going to present himself.

“I haven’t received a letter. If they call me I am not sure, it will depend on the days they are calling me because I am already being judged. If I go and answer, who will I be answering to and what will they do? I will wait to hear what they have to say, if they have anything to say to me or [or if they] invite me,” said Zondo.

Mosoma also encouraged those in support of Zondo, to make submissions before the commission.

“We do not only welcome people who are victims because we want to understand the nature of the story. We are objective and impartial and serve the interests of each and every person who comes to us,” he said.

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