Bishop Zondo's rape trial postponed to next year

The Bishop Zondo rape trial has been postponed to January due to a delay in verifying if the evidence of an alleged victim had been correctly interpreted.

The Pretoria high court heard on Tuesday that the chief interpreter tasked with establishing whether the victim's evidence was correctly interpreted needed more time to complete the verification.

Zondo’s defence team had previously objected to a court interpreter's translation of the evidence presented by the alleged third victim, claiming at least three instances where the interpreter had not correctly interpreted the woman's evidence.

Bishop Stephen Zondo, who heads the Rivers of Living Waters Ministries, was in court on Tuesday.

Zondo is accused of raping seven women and trying to bribe one to drop a case. He faces 10 charges, including rape, indecent assault and defeating the ends of justice.

The chief interpreter who was present in court to explain the delay said he hoped to provide the translations by December 23.

However, he said there were a few challenges delaying the process.

The interpreter told the court that while finalising the verification process, he realised he had skipped a disc.

The matter has been postponed to January 30 for the completion of the cross-examination of the third witness.

One of the victims who testified was allegedly sexually assaulted twice while hired as a chef by Zondo.

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