‘He prayed for her then violated her’: witness in Bishop Zondo's rape trial

Rape accused Bishop Stephen Zondo took notes while sitting in the dock as the 17th witness in his rape trial testified on Monday.

The trial resumed before the Pretoria high court, where a witness testified on the day her sister told her about the alleged sexual assault by Zondo.

The witness, once a member of Zondo’s Rivers of Living Waters Ministries, said her sister had left home and lived somewhere else for a while.

Out of concern, she called her sister to meet her and her brother to get to the bottom of her departure.

“We asked her what caused her to leave home. When we asked that, she started crying. We tried to console her. She said that in September ... she received a call from the church that the bishop wants her to come so he could pray for her.”

Her sister said she then went to the church to meet Zondo as requested, the witness said.

“The church is in Evaton. When she got to the office, the accused prayed for her. She then fell and she said the accused took out his penis and put it in her mouth. When he finished, he then went to the bathroom. That is all I know,” she said.

She said she and her brother consoled the victim and a case was opened in March 2019.

In cross-examination by the defence team, Zondo’s lawyer advocate Piet Pistorius asked the witness if she ever encouraged her sister to report the matter to the police.

He also questioned her on why the church called her sister to be prayed for by Zondo.

“My sister has a gift. She needs prayer for her gift to operate properly. That is all she said,” said the witness.

Asked whether the victim remained in the church after the alleged sexual act, the witness said she did not know.

“My sister and I do not live together. I do not know if she continued going to the church,” she said.

Zondo faces 10 charges after being accused by seven women, most of whom were members of his church.

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