The court has dismissed the application by the prosecution team to have the evidence of all witnesses in the rape trial of Archbishop Stephen Zondo held in camera.

However, the high court in Pretoria allowed the state to bring an application to have a witness testify in camera as and when it deemed so during trial.

Judge Papi Mosopa ordered that the faces and names of the witnesses not be revealed during the court proceedings.

Mosopa allowed for the first state witness to testify in public but the rest of the witnesses will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

The state earlier yesterday put an application before the court to have the entire trial in camera.

Prosecutor Cornelia Harmzen told the court that her witnesses, who are rape victims, had expressed their fears of being shown on television while testifying about the details of the sexual violations they experienced.

“They will feel ashamed and intimidated to give details in an open court. My witnesses are not comfortable testifying in an open court giving details of what happened,” Harmzen said.

But Zondo’s lawyers slammed the move, arguing that some of the witnesses have testified live on television before the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Commission).

Zondo is facing nine counts of rape, which include women who were members of his church.

According to the NPA, Zondo allegedly raped one of his victims in 1980 while she was eight or nine years old.

He is also facing charges of defeating the ends of justice for allegedly offering R25,000 to one of the victims for her to drop the charges.

Some of the women lined up to testify against Zondo have testified before the CRL Commission, detailing their horror at the hands of the founder of Rivers of Living Waters Ministries in Evaton in the Vaal.

Zondo has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.

The trial will resume soon.