Johannesburg – A 32-year-old pastor appeared in the Lenyenye Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, facing five charges of rape and one charge of sexual assault, Limpopo police said.
Spokesperson Lt-Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said the man was remanded in custody with no bail until Thursday, for the judgment on his bail application and for further investigations.
The man, from Mariveni village near near Nkowankowa outside Tzaneen, is accused of raping four minors, aged 12, 14, 14, and 16, who were ushers in his Church at Burgersdorp near Tzaneen from December 2016, until August 2017.
“It is alleged that the four victims, aged 12, 14, 14, and 16, who were ushers in the suspect’s Church at Burgersdorp near Tzaneen were raped by a well-known pastor and who is also calling himself a prophet from December 2016, until August 2017,” Ngoepe said.
“Allegations are that this pastor raped all these victims inside the church on different dates after he invited them one by one to come to the church for prayer and while busy praying, he will then attack the victim and rape her.”