Pastor accused of sexual grooming of boys misses court date
The 51-year-old man was expected to apply for bail in the Palmridge regional court in Ekurhuleni on Wednesday, but for no apparent reason, he was not brought to court by correctional services officials
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The case against a Katlehong pastor accused of sexually grooming boys had to be postponed after he was not brought before court from prison.
The 51-year-old man, who cannot be named as he has not pleaded in court, was expected to apply for bail in the Palmridge regional court in Ekurhuleni on Wednesday but for no apparent reason, he was not brought to court by correctional services officials.
Magistrate Reginald Dama said the accused appeared in court on Tuesday and the matter was moved to Wednesday for a bail application.
“We don’t know why he was not brought before court. We filled the J7 form for him to be released from correctional services... It is something beyond our control,” Dama said.
The suspect was arrested on January 11 for allegedly sexually grooming boys. He faces three counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault. However, the prosecution is expected to add more charges against the pastor. The suspect is the founder of a church that also has branches in Daveyton on the East Rand, as well as Bergville and Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal.
A senior pastor at the church who was present in court said the executive members of the church met on January 21 to discuss their leader's arrest.
“We’ve decided as the executive that we should give our father a chance to face whatsoever allegations he is facing... We are not commenting on the charges, on whether they are true or false. We are giving our father and his family space to deal with whatsoever they are facing,” he said.
In his statement, Bishop Marothi Mashashane, president of the SA National Christian Forum (SANCF), said he was relieved that the pastor was finally facing the law after previous attempts to bring him to book failed.
Zelda Masango, a whistle-blower, resigned from the church early this year after allegedly receiving threats. She told Sowetan that she became aware of the alleged abuse in December after walking into the pastor's room where he was with a young boy.
She immediately involved social workers and this led to one of the victims' parents making a complaint to police on January 11. The same day the pastor was arrested.