Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
R’bosch pastor in sex scam case Allegedly pretended to be female to blackmail boys
Dlamini Zuma set to become MP soon
MORE than 60 high school boys in the Rondebosch area may have been ensnared in a “porn pastor’s” alleged accumulation of nude photographs that he shared online.
The youth pastor, 26, formerly of the Rondebosch Common Ground Church, appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court yesterday on charges of possession of child pornography and failing to report knowledge of the commission of a sexual offence with children.
He was not asked to plead and was released on R1 000 bail after the case was postponed for further investigation until October 17.
His name is known to Weekend Argus but cannot be revealed until he pleads to the charges.
A father whose son was allegedly one of the man’s victims said the suspect led the church’s youth group which was made up mainly of young teenage boys from SACS, Bishops and Rondebosch Boys’ High.
Although no longer a pastor at the Rondebosch Church he was, until his suspension, a youth pastor at Common Ground Constantiaberg in Orpen Road.
Police said the suspect’s modus operandi allegedly involved hacking into his teenage congregants’ social media accounts and, using the identity of a teenage girl, coaxing boys between the ages of 14 and 17 to share naked photos of themselves.
When the boys wanted to stop sharing photos the suspect’s girl alias would threaten them with online exposure.
“Most of the boys would then go to the suspect, as a man of the cloth, to seek advice on how to handle the person bullying them online,” said police spokesman Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo.
“He would then advise them to continue sharing photos which constitutes, on his part, failing to report knowledge of the commission of a sexual offence with children.”
The suspect is a University of Cape Town Master’s graduate in environmental and geographical science living in Rondebosch.
He is also a professional sports photographer and is well known on the school sports field, around Rondebosch and the beaches of Peninsula surfing spots.
A father told Weekend Argus that two years ago his 16-year-old son was being blackmailed on social media to provide naked pictures of himself, and the youngster sought advice from his pastor.
“This all happened in 2015, when my son came downstairs one day looking distraught. He told me that a teenage girl was stalking him online, demanding more naked pictures of himself,” recalled the father.
“She was threatening that if he didn’t give her more photos she would post the photo she already had online.
“I assured my son that he had not done anything wrong and told him that my gut feel was that it wasn’t a girl but probably some sicko and that he should just ignore the threats.
“The red light for me was that a teenage girl wouldn’t behave like this and that my son was being blackmailed.
“There were no more messages for a couple of months and then my son started getting hounded again. So I approached his youth pastor at Rondebosch Common Ground Church, who was also known in the congregation as a police reservist. He would know exactly what to do.
“He led the young group, which was made up mainly of young teenage boys from SACS, Bishops and Rondebosch Boys. I told him the story and asked him how to deal with this.
“He told me it was unacceptable but advised me not to go to the police as it could open an embarrassing can of worms. I trusted him when he said he would rather take care of it himself because he was from our church. We often had coffee and breakfast together and he had been to our house for dinner.
“A few hours later the pastor came back to me saying he had contacted the girl and warned her not to message my son again otherwise she would be arrested. And lo and behold she stopped. My son never heard from her again.”
This week the father heard the pastor had been arrested.
The arrest followed a complaint from the parent of an alleged 14-year-old victim which sparked an urgent joint investigation involving the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, the Hawks and the US Homeland Security. PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma’s supporters have raised the stakes in the race for the leadership of the ANC and possibly of the country after the party announced that presidential hopeful Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma will join the National Assembly as an MP soon.
The ruling party chief whip Jackson Mthembu’s office confirmed that she would be sworn in soon.
“She will be replacing Pule Mabe as an MP to fill that vacancy. As to when she will sworn in we don’t know,” Nonceba Mhlauli said.
Mabe resigned as an MP last month to explore a career in business.
Dlamini Zuma launched her presidential campaign shortly after her term as chairperson of the AU Commission came to an end in January. She enjoys the support of the ANC Women’s League as well as the ANC Youth League.
Her swearing in as an MP would be read as an obvious case of preparing a role for her in the cabinet.
Dlamini-Zuma has vast experience in the cabinet, having served as the first health minister in Nelson Mandela’s cabinet between 1994 and 1999, then as minister of foreign affairs, under presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe. She was minister of home affairs during President Jacob Zuma’s first term. Dlamini Zuma is unlikely to be a backbencher.
If she is appointed as a cabinet minister, this would mean that Zuma would have to reshuffle his cabinet again within months of the last shake-up of ministers. If it happens, the president is likely to purge at least one of the cabinet ministers opposed to him.
In March, Zuma fired finance minister Pravin Gordhan, energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson, transport minister Dipuo Peters, public service and administration minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi and tourism minister Derek Hanekom, most of whom were seen as political opponents.
Dlamini-Zuma is expected to go up against Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, seen as the leading contender to take the helm of the ANC. – Additional reporting by ANA