Nigerian televangelist pastor Timothy Omotoso has been released from police custody and is now a free man after he appeared at the East London Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Omotoso appeared at the Eastern Cape court on on a charge of contravening provisions of the Immigration Act.
His court appearance follows his arrest on Saturday morning. He made his first appearance at the court on Monday.
During his court appearance on Tuesday, it was revealed that the Department of Home Affairs is arguing that Omotoso contravened the provisions of the Immigration Act. Based on this argument, the department said Omotoso should be deported back to Nigeria.
Challenging deportation
Omotoso is challenging the decision to deport him. His lawyers argued that his arrest and deportation should be suspended pending the outcome of his deportation challenge.
The court then ruled that Omotoso cannot be detained for more than 48 hours without being charged. This as per Section 34 of the Immigration Act.
Omotoso was arrested on Saturday morning around 5am. The 48 hours lapsed on Monday. Omotoso was only formally charged in a court of law on Monday afternoon. Therefore, Omotoso was released by the court on a procedural flaw.
If Omotoso’s application challenging his deportation fails, he will be deported.
Meanwhile, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said it will appeal the court judgement to acquit Omotoso on a previous case. He was acquitted together with his co-accused on rape, human trafficking and sexual assault charges.
NPA national spokesperson Adv Mthunzi Mhaga said the decision to appeal the acquittal judgment follows a thorough consideration of the matter by an NPA internal team of experienced prosecutors and a legal opinion from senior counsel.
NPA confirms appeal
“The NPA’s director of public prosecutions in the Eastern Cape, Mr Barry Madolo, has decided to appeal the judgment of the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court in Gqeberha, delivered by Judge Irma Schoeman on 02 April 2025, relating to the case against Timothy Omotoso and two others.
“The decision could not be rushed due to the complexity of the matter. This as well as the voluminous transcript that needed to be interrogated,” said Mhaga.
He said the NPA takes the view that there are reasonable prospects of a successful appeal. This is despite the complexities of the legal process.
“A convicted person may appeal a conviction on both facts and the law. However, the state can only appeal an acquittal judgement on a question of law (as opposed to facts) in terms of Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA). The first step in this process is to request that the judge clarify factual findings.
“The relevant papers in this regard were filed with the Registrar of the High Court in Gqeberha. They were filed on Monday, 12 May 2025.
Relevant papers filed
“Once a clarification of the factual findings is received from the judge, the NPA’s legal team will finalise the papers on the reservation of questions of law. It will also file this application with the Registrar of the High Court,” said Mhaga.
“Even though Section 319 of the CPA does not prescribe the timeframe for the filing of such papers, we undertake to file the application within a reasonable period to avoid any
undue delay,” added Mhaga.
Omotoso was acquitted on all charges in April. He had been accused of luring female congregants to his church and forcing them into sexual acts. He was also accused of restricting their freedom to leave.
His co-accused, senior church members Lusanda Solani and Zikiswa Sitho, were also acquitted.
