Port Elizabeth - The case against a Nigerian pastor charged with human trafficking and rape is back in the Port Elizabeth High Court.
The case was postponed on Monday after Judge Mandela Makaula had dismissed an application for him to recuse himself.
Makaula ruled that the application by Peter Daubermann, the legal representative for Omotoso and one of his co-accused, was without merit. He did not give full reasons.
Leave to appeal the court’s decision will be argued on Thursday with Daubermann indicating his clients were prepared to take the matter as far as the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
The Nigerian pastor faces 63 main charges and 34 alternative counts, which include human trafficking, rape, sexual assault, racketeering, and conspiracy in aiding another person to commit sexual assault.
His two alleged henchwomen, Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho are accused of recruiting girls from all over the country for purposes of sexual exploitation.
The 58-year-old televangelist allegedly trafficked more than 30 girls and women who were from various branches of his church to a house in Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal, where he allegedly sexually exploited them.