Batohi vows to appeal Omotoso acquittal, calls it ‘major setback’

FILE: Nigerian televangelist pastor, Timothy Omotoso and his co-accused Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho in the High Court in Gqeberha.

1 minute

National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi says the acquittal judgment of Nigerian televangelist pastor, Timothy Omotoso, is a major setback to the justice system of South Africa.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says it will appeal the not guilty verdict in Omotoso’s trafficking and sexual assault case.

Batohi, during a briefing to Parliament, states that there are reasonable prospects of successfully appealing the judgment in the Omotoso case.

“In view of the devastating impact of this case, we immediately took measures to ensure accountability and that justice prevails within the confines of the law. As we’ve said in our report, we submitted to the committee on Monday.”

Batohi says, “ We’ve undertaken three key measures, the first one is that we’ve put in place measures to explore the grounds to appeal this judgment, secondly we continued with the investigation, which has already started into the conduct of prosecutors that are involved in this matter in addition we have established a team to assess the prosecutorial performance in the Omotoso matter.”