The leader of Rivers of Living Waters Ministries, Bishop Bafana Stephen Zondo, allegedly burst into tears when he was confronted by the husband of the woman he had allegedly forced to perform oral sex on him during a prayer session.
The woman told the Pretoria high court on Monday she and her husband, at the bishop’s request, had a meeting with Zondo in his office at the church’s Evaton branch, where the alleged offence took place in December 2018.
The woman said the meeting took place in February or March 2019 and one of Zondo’s ushers known as Mr Mthembu was also present.
“When we walked in, he burst into tears and told us that he has problems. He said people are leaving his church and now we also want to leave,” the woman said.
She said her husband then responded by saying they were not there to discuss people leaving the church but to talk about the oral sex he forced on his wife.
“When he realised that my husband knows, he stopped crying and explained to us that he had problems at his house. He said when he’s at home with his wife, he doesn’t get an erection, but when he’s outside with other people, he gets it.
“His other painful explanation is that the spirit of rape that is upon me is what caused him to do what he did to me, and that spirit forced him to lose control over himself,” the woman said.
She told the court that she was previously raped and the bishop was aware of this, because the main reason she joined his church was to get emotional healing over the rape. She was 16 years old when she joined the church, she said.
The woman said Zondo immediately stood up during the meeting, lifted his trousers and told the couple no-one would bring him down. He said the husband then told him that because he was not apologising for what he did, they were leaving the church and removing their membership immediately.
The woman said she only opened a case against Zondo in 2021, after realising that she wanted to see justice.
The woman told the court that when she joined Zondo’s church, she started as a dancer and rose through the ranks in the church, including being a member of the brass band and finally to a group known as prayer warriors.
She said after being a member of the prayer warriors, she got closer to Zondo, as he would call members of the prayer warriors daily, to check if there are any dreams and visions they had from the prayer points he gave them.
With each church service attracting more than 5,000 people at the time, the woman told the court that when Zondo told her he wanted to pray for her marriage, though she was not aware of any challenges or problems in the marriage at the time, she obliged.
“I believed that as he is someone who is said to be a man of God, he could foresee what is coming, so that’s why I agreed to the prayer,” the woman said.
The woman told the court she would be graduating in July with a Ph.D. in education. She holds a master’s degree, honours and a BA degree, all in education.
She also told the court the church and Zondo helped her with an allowance that covered food and transport to go to the church between 2012 and 2014, when she was studying for her undergraduate degree.
She said between 2014 and 2018, Zondo gave her an allowance for airtime and data but stopped it when she left the church.
The trial will continue on Tuesday, when the defence will cross-examine the woman.
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‘He said he can’t get an erection at home but gets it when he’s outside’: Bishop Zondo’s victim in court
The woman also said Zondo told her the rape spirit lingering about her led him to his transgression
Image: ANTONIO MUCHAVE
The leader of Rivers of Living Waters Ministries, Bishop Bafana Stephen Zondo, allegedly burst into tears when he was confronted by the husband of the woman he had allegedly forced to perform oral sex on him during a prayer session.
The woman told the Pretoria high court on Monday she and her husband, at the bishop’s request, had a meeting with Zondo in his office at the church’s Evaton branch, where the alleged offence took place in December 2018.
The woman said the meeting took place in February or March 2019 and one of Zondo’s ushers known as Mr Mthembu was also present.
“When we walked in, he burst into tears and told us that he has problems. He said people are leaving his church and now we also want to leave,” the woman said.
She said her husband then responded by saying they were not there to discuss people leaving the church but to talk about the oral sex he forced on his wife.
“When he realised that my husband knows, he stopped crying and explained to us that he had problems at his house. He said when he’s at home with his wife, he doesn’t get an erection, but when he’s outside with other people, he gets it.
“His other painful explanation is that the spirit of rape that is upon me is what caused him to do what he did to me, and that spirit forced him to lose control over himself,” the woman said.
She told the court that she was previously raped and the bishop was aware of this, because the main reason she joined his church was to get emotional healing over the rape. She was 16 years old when she joined the church, she said.
The woman said Zondo immediately stood up during the meeting, lifted his trousers and told the couple no-one would bring him down. He said the husband then told him that because he was not apologising for what he did, they were leaving the church and removing their membership immediately.
The woman said she only opened a case against Zondo in 2021, after realising that she wanted to see justice.
The woman told the court that when she joined Zondo’s church, she started as a dancer and rose through the ranks in the church, including being a member of the brass band and finally to a group known as prayer warriors.
She said after being a member of the prayer warriors, she got closer to Zondo, as he would call members of the prayer warriors daily, to check if there are any dreams and visions they had from the prayer points he gave them.
With each church service attracting more than 5,000 people at the time, the woman told the court that when Zondo told her he wanted to pray for her marriage, though she was not aware of any challenges or problems in the marriage at the time, she obliged.
“I believed that as he is someone who is said to be a man of God, he could foresee what is coming, so that’s why I agreed to the prayer,” the woman said.
The woman told the court she would be graduating in July with a Ph.D. in education. She holds a master’s degree, honours and a BA degree, all in education.
She also told the court the church and Zondo helped her with an allowance that covered food and transport to go to the church between 2012 and 2014, when she was studying for her undergraduate degree.
She said between 2014 and 2018, Zondo gave her an allowance for airtime and data but stopped it when she left the church.
The trial will continue on Tuesday, when the defence will cross-examine the woman.
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Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
READ MORE
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Bishop Zondo’s legal team pours water on witnesses’ testimonies as trial commences
Bishop Zondo's rape trial postponed to next year
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