A former member of the Jesus Dominion International Church told the Gqeberha high court he had feared for his life after church leader pastor Timothy Omotoso “cursed” him and gave him only three days to live.
Luckily, his life had been spared after he humbled himself before the Nigerian televangelist and underwent a special “curse-lifting ceremony”.
The man’s testimony was heard on Monday as the rape and human trafficking trial of Omotoso and his co-accused, Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho, continued.
They also face charges of sexual assault and racketeering, to which they have pleaded not guilty.
Omotoso has been in custody since his arrest in April 2017, while Sulani and Sitho were released on R2,000 bail each.
Taking the stand, Thozamile Ngeva, 34, shed light on how large sums of money were allegedly collected at church services and how congregants believed they would receive blessings for their monetary offerings.
He said Omotoso would hold up envelopes during services and assign values to each of them, and congregants would then volunteer to fill these envelopes with the assigned amount.
The first envelope would be for R500, and the amount for each subsequent envelope would increase, sometimes going as high as R10,000, he said.
Ngeva said he had joined the church as a teenager and had been very excited to be part of a congregation with such a big presence, with branches throughout South Africa.
However, he had become disillusioned in 2016 when “things happening at the church did not sit well with me”.
He said he had once been called to meet Omotoso, who had expressed his disappointment in Ngeva as he had failed to kneel at the right times during a service.
Ngeva became emotional as he told the court Omotoso had “cursed” him, allegedly saying he had only three days to live.
Believing his fate was sealed, Ngeva had all but said his goodbyes to his family when another church member told him he needed to apologise to Omotoso for his transgression.
After making amends with the pastor, his curse was apparently lifted at a special church service.
But he said the final straw that drove him to leave the church had been when he was assaulted at his home after a discussion on social media about bogus preachers at other churches.
He said that in 2016 he and a friend had exchanged posts about strange rituals at churches that made the news and he said he would perhaps open it up as a topic for discussion on a radio talk show he hosted.
However, this had upset certain members of the congregation and a group called “The Men Aflame” had arrived at his home in Kwazakhele and allegedly assaulted him.
Ngeva claimed he had tried to report a case with the police in Kwazakhele, but police members, who were also church members, had convinced him not to press charges.
Omotoso, sitting in court with his Bible, listened intently to Ngeva’s testimony, sometimes smiling broadly, seemingly amused by the man’s account of events.
The trial continues on Tuesday.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.