Johannesburg – The first witness who is a niece of the accused Archbishop Zondo, continued being cross-examined by the defense at the Pretoria High Court on Thursday.
The witness has been on the stand for the past three days.
The witness disputed that her great-grandmother whom she stayed with stopped practicing as a traditional healer after the defense made it known to the court that the accused, did say that the great-grandmother stopped practicing in 1980.
Furthermore, after the background information was collected by the defense, the witness revealed that she was a widow and that her husband passed on in 2006.
The defense asked why the witness never mentioned that she had told her younger brother about the allegations she made against the accused.
The defense then revealed to the court that the younger brother made a statement to the police, however, never mentioned that the witness told him about the rape.
Around 11 am the witness broke down in tears after the defense asked why her younger brother never reported the matter to the family and the accused, so they discuss it as a family.
“He never reported the matter to the family because he was scared of the accused, we are all scared of him,” she shared.
The court was adjourned around 11 am and the cross-examination commenced shortly after teatime.
The witness further revealed that she got engaged and lived with her fiance’ a year after her husband had passed away.
She further revealed that she told her fiance’ about what happened to her when she was younger.
“I told my fiance’ about the matter because I have daughters and I wanted someone to be a father to my daughters, so they don’t go through what I experienced as a child.”
The witness shared that she did not reveal the identity of the accused as she was scared and embarrassed about what had happened to her.
The witness continues to be cross-examined and the trial continues.
Zondo, on Thursday, was seen wearing a navy suit and red and navy tie, attentively listening to the cross-examination.
Zondo pleaded not guilty to 9 counts of rape and defeating the ends of justice and attempting to bribe the witness with a sum of R25000 to drop the charges.
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