Rape-accused leader of the Rivers of Living Waters Ministries, Bishop Stephen Zondo, believes that his enemies are behind the rape allegations he is facing in court.
Zondo, one of the eminent church leaders in South Africa with a huge following, believes the charges against him were trumped up to destroy his character and bring down his church.
The Bible puncher was speaking to Sunday World Engage in a wide-ranging interview about his upbringing, his church, political involvement and politics of the church broadly.
A self-proclaimed hustler, who rose from a hustling teenager selling apples to leading one of the biggest churches in the
country with more than 64 branches across the SADC region, believes that his rise to the top attracted a lot of enemies.
Zondo says there have been multiple events of trying to bring him down, starting as far back as 2010, when his church building south of Gauteng was made a public-viewing area for the Fifa World Cup.
Already at the time, he said, there were queries about why his church was selected and whether or not he was making money from that.
From that moment, he
added, the offensive against him
spiralled out of control, including several propaganda campaigns aimed at tarnishing his name and that of his church.
Zondo believes he is a victim of a deep-seated anomaly of the so-called “pull him down” syndrome that is embedded in the black community.
“Growing up, I would always ask myself why white people were more successful than us black people, and what I realised was that if allegations like these, of rape come forward, you will fall the same time; that’s the best way to destroy a man,” said Zondo.
“I believe that there’s elements of greed, jealousy, and competition. Let’s not separate these things from where I started, they’re talking about things that they heard on the radio. From 2011 until now, they have even added other allegations.”
According to Zondo, the rape charges, for which he is undergoing a trial, are so baseless not a single count is backed up by DNA evidence.
He also questioned why his victims had not opened cases immediately after the alleged rape and sexual assault incidents occurred. In his view, making excuses that his perceived political and police connections scared off the victims from opening criminal complaints timeously does not cut it.
“In court, no one brought DNA evidence. No one! And the question was asked why they didn’t report this in time, and they said it was because Thabo Mbeki came to my church in 1998, and he made them scared, and then Jacob Zuma also came.
They claimed that they were scared because of these people and that I’m friends with the police. Which police? Because I get speed fines from the police for speeding,” he opined.
Zondo claims that if he had influence over the police, multiple cases he has opened of defamation, crimen injuria and harassment that never got anywhere would have long been resolved in his favour.
“If it’s true that I have an influence on the police, all my cases that I’ve opened were going to be a priority.
“I wrote to (former police minister) Nathi Mthethwa personally; I spoke to (former national police commissioner) Riah Phiyega face to face, and she sent other people; after taking the information, they disappeared. Up until today.”
Zondo said while the rape trial he believes is built on lies continues, his personal, family, and public life continues to suffer unimaginable reputational damage.
“It’s demoralising! You look at your people, the society that you grew up in, that saw you struggling and building a ministry for over 30 years and you are collapsed when you reach the top; it’s not easy. This has damaged me a great deal,” said the bishop.
