Port Elizabeth – After a lengthy delay a Nigerian pastor, charged with human trafficking and sexual assault, appeared in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday where a bail application was expected to get underway.
However, the matter was postponed until 2pm so that lawyers for the SABC could file papers for an application to broadcast court proceedings.
The public broadcaster also wants journalists to be able to use their cell phones to tweet in court.
The 58-year-old televangelist was arrested by the Hawks at the PE airport on April 21 and has been in custody ever since.
The pastor, who is based in Durban, is alleged to have trafficked more than 30 girls and women who were from various branches of his Jesus Dominion International Church .
He allegedly took the girls to a house in Umhlanga, in KwaZulu Natal, where he sexually exploited them.
There was a strong police presence outside the Port Elizabeth Magistrate's Court
Crowds gathered outside the court building on Wednesday to support the pastor who they affectionately call “daddy”.
Access to the court room itself was difficult as dozens of people gathered in the court corridor.
Tactical Response Team members infiltrated the court room and warned people sitting in the public gallery, including the media, that cell phones were to be switched off.
Members of the public and media were told several times that they would be removed from the court room if cell phones were not switched off.
The pastor's supporters outside court. Photo: ANA
“If you become unruly, I take you out [court]. If I break your leg I break it,” a TRT official told the public gallery.
As the matter got underway the Nigerian pastor quietly sat in the dock holding his signature sunglasses.
He was wearing a velvet navy blue jacket and carried a bible in his hands.
The state indicated that the charge sheet had been amended. Intially there were 4 counts which included sexual assault and human trafficking. The pastor now faced 22 counts combined.
The state is not opposing the application brought by the SABC’s lawyers to have proceedings recorded.
The SABC is arguing that the case is in the public interest.
However, defence advocate Alfonso Hattingh, instructed by attorney Alwyn Griebenow, requested that the SABC should formally file papers as the defence was not in a position to respond without further clarity.
“We don’t know what this application is about, we are in no position to respond. The matter was set down for a formal bail application and both the defence and state are ready to proceed,” said Hattingh.
The case was postponed for the SABC’s lawyers to file papers for its application.
The matter resumed at 2pm.