She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
In fact, when Judge Mandela Makaula announced he’d recused himself from the highly publicized trial of pastor Timothy Omotoso, she just froze.
Cheryl Zondi – the first witness to testify against the wildly popular pastor of Jesus Dominion International Church – knew this meant she may have to re - live the nightmare.
Last year Cheryl (23) described in harrowing detail how Omotoso (60) allegedly sexually groomed her.
He raped and assaulted her several times, she told the court, dating back to when she was 14 years old.
Omotoso and his two co-accused, Zukiswa Sitho (28) and Lusanda Sulani (36), are facing 63 charges and 34 alternative charges including rape, sexual assault, human trafficking and racketeering.
When Judge Makaula recently recused himself from the trial it sent Cheryl reeling. “I remember I said, ‘Oh no, oh no, not again!’” she tells DRUM.
“Then I went numb. “I couldn’t feel my body. I couldn’t even eat. A lot was going through my mind,” she says.
The trial has been fraught with delays and the latest twist came after reports emerged that the judge’s wife owned a guesthouse where state witnesses had stayed during the trial.
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Cheryl is baffled by it all. “The only place I’ve seen the judge is in the courtroom. I’ve never seen him outside of it.” The guesthouse she stayed in was organised by the state, she says.
“I didn’t know who it be - longed to.” Judge Makaula has faced the issue of recusal since last year when Omotoso’s attorney, Peter Daubermann, launched an application to have the judge recuse himself from the case.
Daubermann accused him of being “overly sympathetic” to - wards Cheryl. This came after the Judge had wished her well with her studies and told her to focus on her future last year. But, Cheryl thinks the judge was “just being civil”. Yet the recusal had nothing to do with Daubermann’s application.
Judge Makaula had declared his wife’s business interests every year he’s been on the bench but said he had bowed out of the trial in the interest of justice.
This means all the evidence heard by the court – including Cheryl’s – may have to be presented again and she will once more be subjected to Daubermann’s grilling. “I’m likely going to have to start testifying as if nothing happened last year,” Cheryl says.
She was put through the ringer the first time she took the stand. Daubermann’s cross examination of Cheryl’s testimony drew intense criticism when he implied she was a willing participant in the alleged rape – many viewed it as another violation of the young woman.
The University of Johannesburg student earned the respect of the nation when she stood her ground against Daubermann in the televised trial.
Yet away from the public eye Cheryl was falling apart. “I went through the trauma all over again. I got a badgering defence lawyer asking about centimetres (of the accused’s penis), telling me I wanted to be raped.
“He made me feel like I was on trial.” She also feared for her life. “I was told there was a hit out on me for half a million rand because I dared to speak the truth,” Cheryl says.
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After giving testimony she fled her family home and moved in with Thoko Xaluva-Mkhwanazi, the chairperson of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities.
The state offered Cheryl witness protection, but she turned it down. “I would have had to drop out of school, change my name and move to the middle of nowhere, reinforcing this lousy ‘victims must hide’ mentality.”
Instead, she chose to stay put and fight – and if the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is to be believed she may have to do it all over again. “A recusal is nothing out of the ordinary,” says Tsepo Ndwalaza, the NPA’s Eastern Cape spokesperson.
“It will delay the case because it may translate to a trial rerun.” Cheryl thought long and hard about laying her soul bare again in court, but she wants her voice to be heard. “At the end of the day it’s about justice.” This time she expects the process to be much worse. “If I have to go be victimised again then so be it,” she says. “I’m telling the truth – I am not reshuffling anything. I have faith the truth will prevail.”
She doesn’t care how many times she must tell her story. “The struggle will continue.
It's taken Cheryl eight years to speak out against her alleged abuser. “I did lose my faith along the way. “But where I stand now, I believe in God, I strongly believe in God.” Her hellish experience allegedly at the hands of a man of God tested her faith but she says it all boils down to separating God from forces that misrepresent him.
She’s holding on to her faith but admits the thought of another trial is a scary prospect – particularly for her family. “My grandparents, especially, are taking strain,” she says. The trial turned their life upside down but amid the difficult circumstances the marketing management student passed her exams.
Cheryl desperately wants to move on with her life but the wheels of justice turn slowly – she’s yet to hear from the NPA on the next step in the legal process. “It’s a bit unsettling but part of me thinks they’re sorting out other things regarding the case.”
Ndwalaza says they’re aware Cheryl’s life has been put on hold. “This trial has been emotionally draining for the first witness and if it starts over it will steal time from an already delayed trial process, due to the endless postponements.” Her future is up in the air, yet Cheryl has no regrets.
Facing her perpetrator in public has empowered her. Through the Cheryl Zondi Foundation she’s able to help other survivors of sexual assault, but she admits it’s not easy. “Sometimes I still feel helpless. But speaking out really helped get rid of all the shame I had.
I have faith we’ll have a new generation who won’t be afraid of speaking out. When that happens, we’ll have less rape crimes because people will be afraid to break the law.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
A judge, who asked to remain anonymous, says getting a judge to recuse him or herself “is an old trick” used by lawyers, and is also a delaying tactic.
The trial could start from scratch or the prosecution team could bring an application asking the new judge to allow the trial to continue from where it had been paused so Cheryl wouldn’t be forced to give evidence again, he says.
There is no obligation on the court to start the trial from the beginning.
“In fact, the sensitivity of the trial and its effects on the first witness have already served as proof . . . there are substantial and extenuating grounds that warrant the matter should not start [from scratch].”
The judge expects the defence team to challenge this option, “as we saw its dedication to have the case dismissed, against all odds”.
