The state witness in the Bishop Bafana Zondo trial, who is the husband of one of the bishop’s alleged victims, has told the court that the accused’s arrogance made him leave a church he had served for more than 20 years.
This was revealed during cross-examination by Zondo’s defence at the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday.
The witness told the court that his wife opened up to him and informed him that while she was in the office with Zondo, he put his genitals in her mouth and prayed over her.
Zondo’s lawyer advocate Piet Pistorius questioned how the man felt after the wife had informed him about the alleged incident.
To which he responded by saying he felt angry but shocked, as they were devoted congregants of Rivers of Living Waters Church, a church owned by Zondo.
Pistorius asked why the couple went to the same church where the wife had allegedly been forced to perform a “blow job” on Zondo.
“It was habitual for us to go to church on Sunday, and because of the “power of the kingdom of darkness”, said the witness.
Unpacking to the court the “power of the kingdom of darkness”, the witness said there was a power which forced him to do things he knew he was not supposed to do.
“In a church sermon before, Zondo asked people from the pulpit to pledge at least R5 000 towards the church.
“I had my credit card with me and although I had a lot of debt, I could not contain myself, I went there and then swiped my card [to pledge towards the church],” he said, backing up his statement about the forces of darkness in the church.
Pistorius told the court that his client had claimed that the victim had been communicating with the accused via WhatsApp long after the witness and the victim had left the church.
He further questioned why the wife would want to contact someone who had caused her pain, to which the husband said he was not aware of those conversations.
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