Johannesburg- The trial of Rivers of Living Waters Archbishop Stephen Zondo continued on Tuesday morning at the Pretoria High Court.
Zondo is on trial for nine counts of rape, one of indecent assault, and for also defeating the ends of justice.
The accused sat attentively wearing a grey suit and white shirt as the second witness, who is also his nephew gave his testimony to the court.
Church members of Rivers of Living Waters came out in numbers to support Zondo.
Former EFF member and feminist Mandisa Mashego was also present in the courtroom as the trial continued.
The witness is the oldest of five children and the age difference between him and the complainant is 12 months.
The complainants’ brother shared to the court that he had a good relationship with the accused as they grew up.
“Growing up, while I was in primary I stayed at the accused’s house, and he also stayed at my home in Sebokeng Zone 3. During that time the family of the accused did not have a place to stay,” he shared.
Eventually, the accused and his family found a place around the same area, the witness said on Tuesday.
The witness shared that they went to stay at the accused’s home because their mother had gone to give birth at her parental home, around June in 1981.
The witness and the complainant stayed at the accused’s home with their paternal great grandmother for a period of 3-4 months and spent a lot of time with their great grandmother, he further told the court.
When asked about the relationship between the accused and the witness, the witness shared that they had an ‘on and off’ relationship.
The accused was very possessive of his belongings, so they would fight over the witness touching his belongings.
“He would slap me on my hand and that planted a seed of fear towards the accused, but the only person who would protect me was my great grandmother as I reported to her,” the witness said.
The witness further shared that he never picked up on any problems of the complainant while they stayed at the accused’s home.
“When my sister left, she was furious and wanted the both of us to leave, but I refused as I loved taking care of my great grandmother. On that day my sister left for good and never returned.”
“Today you are aware of the rape allegations, when did you first hear about these allegations?”, the court asked.
“Truly speaking I can’t recall the exact year but during that time I was around 27 years old when she first told me about the rape. I had gone to her house to tell her about a problem I was facing at that time, which was in relation to my girlfriend at the time. At that time, I needed fatherly advice but unfortunately, my father had passed on,” the witness said.
The brother of the complainant told her that he had called the accused and needed man-to-man advice and not money, but the way the accused responded didn’t sit well with him.
“The accused said I should go and make an appointment in Evaton then he would be able to see me. That is when my sister told me to stay away from the accused as he was not a good person, he had raped her when they were younger,” the witness explained.
“After my sister told me about the rape, we both cried but at that time, she never told me how many times he did it, but she shared that the incident happened when we were still young,” he said.
The complainant’s brother continued to give his testimony to the court, leading to the time when the family meeting took place last year after the rape case was opened.
The trial continues as the complainant’s brother is being cross-examined.
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