Mamelodi pastor gets life sentence for raping church members aged 12 and 13

A pastor from the Jesus Is the Answer Ministries (JITAM) in Mamelodi East was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a 12-year-old girl and the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl, both of whom were congregants in his church.

The Pretoria Magistrate’s Court ordered that the sentences run concurrently with life imprisonment and that his name be entered into the Register of Sexual Offenders, Gauteng NPA regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said. The pastor, whose name was not disclosed by the NPA, was further declared unfit to work with children and to possess a firearm.

In explaining what happened, Mahanjana said that during November 2021, the 13-year-old went to church in Mamelodi East for choir practice. When she arrived early, she found the pastor on the church premises, who instructed her to enter the church building with him.

Once inside, he began to question her about serving in church and promised to provide for her with anything she wanted. He then touched her chest, breast and buttocks. The victim pulled back, walked out of the church building, and joined other church members who also came for the choir practice.

A few months later, in April 2022, while the 12-year-old victim was alone at home in Mamelodi, the pastor arrived at her house and asked her about her parents' whereabouts. When he heard she was alone at home, he ordered her to go into the house. According to her evidence, he promised to marry her while touching her breasts and buttocks. He pushed the victim onto the sofa, undressed both of them and raped her before leaving.

About four months later, both of the victims told their parents about what had happened and a criminal case was opened against the pastor. Up to that point, the victims had remained mum about their ordeals.

Mahanjana said following investigations by the police’s Family Sexual Violence and Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS), the pastor was arrested at his house on 30 August 2022. He has been in custody since as the NPA successfully opposed his release on bail.

Both victims were taken to Mamelodi Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC), where they received medical care, psychological and legal assistance. The pastor pleaded not guilty to the two charges, claiming that the stepfather of the 12-year-old child is falsely accusing him because he wants to take his position as a pastor in the church.

However, state prosecutor Andries Ntjana presented compelling evidence from Dr. Lukhozi from TCC who examined the victims. The court also accepted the evidence of both victims about what had happened to them.

During sentencing, through his legal representative, the pastor, a father of three, requested the court to deviate from imposing the prescribed minimum sentence, arguing that he is a first-time offender who played a positive role in the community.

However, Ntjana argued that rape is a serious offence that is violent by nature. The prosecutor pointed out that it takes away a child’s childhood and that the pastor committed those offences against vulnerable children who trusted him and saw him as a father.

In sentencing, magistrate Lynn Pillay commented that the pastor showed no remorse and that he committed serious offences that are prevalent in the court's jurisdiction. She added that it was the responsibility of the courts to protect communities from such perpetrators by removing them from the communities.

zelda.venter@inl.co.za