Cheryl Zondi: I’ll do it all over again
‘This is not justice’ as trial starts afresh
Cheryl Zondi is willing to relive her traumatic experience and take to the witness stand again in the rape trial against Nigerian Pastor Timothy Omotoso, if required to. Zondi held a briefing in Johannesburg yesterday after presiding Judge Mandela Makaula recused himself from the trial on Friday, citing possible conflict of interest. Law experts have indicated that this could mean a retrial, with Zondi having to restart her testimony all over again.
Omotoso stands accused of sexually assaulting up to 30 girls, including Zondi. Zondi, 23, said the National Prosecuting Authority had not confirmed whether she would have to repeat her testimony before the Eastern Cape High Court in Port Elizabeth, however, she was aware of the possibility.
“This cannot be justice but if I have to go through secondary victimisation again to get it then so be it. At the end of the day, the truth will trump all the tactics and the lies, as always, the truth will prevail. I don’t care how many times I have to tell the truth or go through the same process over and over again,” she said. Zondi said she was aware of the emotional stress that lies ahead after her previous experience on the witness stand. “I got a badgering defence lawyer asking me about centimetres. Telling me that I wanted to get raped, making me feel like I was the one on trial. And as if that wasn’t enough, I had been back home for a few days when I was told there was a hit out on my head for half a million rand because I dared to speak my truth,” she said.
Zondi once more expressed her disappointment at the state’s failure to protect her, saying that the witness protection system had collapsed. “I was never under witness protection because the system just doesn’t work,” she said. In December, public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane said she would investigate the witness protection programme after Zondi laid a complaint with her office. Makaula announced his recusal because his wife holds shares in a guesthouse where witnesses in the case were accommodated. Makaula said it was important to avoid possible conflict of interest. Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities commission chairwoman Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva who is also the deputy chairwoman for Zondi’s organisation said Zondi has shown courage.
“As a nation we ought to be proud of Cheryl. For a young woman to stand up to so much trauma in public it takes a lot,” Mkhwanazi-Xaluva said.