Cape Town – Judgment was delayed on Thursday, in a case involving a church pastor accused of raping two women, on different days, in a hotel room.
Pastor David Mteteleu Mnapu, 50, of the church ministry known as the Christ Healing Fountain, in Mannenberg on the Cape Flats, appeared in the Sexual Offences Court in Parow, before magistrate Mandy van Leeve.
Mnapu pleaded not guilty to both counts in April, when his trial commenced.
Judgement was scheduled for Thursday, when the magistrate said it had come to her attention that the defence attorney did not have the right of appearance in court.
Although the attorney assured the court that she did, the magistrate ruled that the court required proof, one way or the other, from the Cape Law Society.
The attorney may not be named until the matter resumes on May 20.
The first rape charge involves an 18-year-old girl, who had been raped at gunpoint by another man in November 2008.
She attended the Christ Healing Fountain church, and approached Mnapu, the pastor at the time, for counselling in March, 2009.
She alleges that Mnapu invited her to his room in a hotel near the Cape Town International Airport, where he raped her.
The second alleged victim, aged 20, who had also been raped at gunpoint in the year 2008, similarly approached Mnapu in his hotel room for counselling.
Instead of the emotional support that she expected from him, she alleges that Mnapu raped her, then warned her that her family would die, and be cursed, if she told anyone about it.
Mnapu, who is out on R1 000 bail, was warned to appear again on May 20.
African News Agency
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