Gqeberha: The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will appeal the judgement in the case against controversial televangelist, Timothy Omotoso and his two co-accused, Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho. The trio were acquitted on 32 serious charges including rape, racketeering, and human trafficking in the Gqeberha High Court last month.
According to South African Government News Agency, the decision to appeal follows a thorough consideration of the matter by an NPA internal team of experienced prosecutors, along with a legal opinion sourced from Senior Counsel. The decision was not rushed due to the complexity of the matter and the voluminous transcript that needed to be examined. The NPA believes there are reasonable prospects of a successful appeal despite the complexities involved. While a convicted person may appeal a conviction on both facts and the law, the state can only appeal an acquittal judgment on a question of law, as per Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA).
The prosecutorial body has explained that the initial step, which involves filing papers with the court registrar, is to request the judge to clarify factual findings. Once the clarification is received, the NPA’s legal team will complete the papers on the reservation of questions of law and file this application with the Registrar of the High Court. Although Section 319 of the CPA does not specify a timeframe for filing such papers, the NPA commits to doing so within a reasonable period to prevent any unnecessary delay.
Meanwhile, Timothy Omotoso was arrested in East London on Saturday and is currently facing charges related to the contravention of the Immigration Act.