Pretoria - The husband of a woman who claimed that Rivers of Living Waters Church leader Bishop Bafana Stephen Zondo “shoved his private part” into her mouth, testified that when he confronted Zondo, he was so arrogant that he and his wife decided to leave the church.
The man, who cannot be identified to protect the identity of his wife, took the stand in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, this week.
The man said his wife told him on December 24, 2018, about what had happened to her while she was praying with Zondo in his office at the church. He and his wife then confronted Zondo about this in March the following year.
He told the court that Zondo’s “arrogance” regarding the matter finally caused them to “part ways”.
Yesterday, the man was grilled by Zondo’s advocate, Piet Pistorius, who commented that the husband must have been very angry when he heard what had happened to his wife. The man responded that he was not so much angry, as surprised. He said that up to then, they were devoted congregants of Zondo’s church.
Asked by Pistorius exactly what his wife had claimed Zondo had done to her, the husband said she only said that when she opened her eyes while he was praying for her, she saw that he had stuck his private part into her mouth.
Pistorius wanted more details as to what the wife had told him, but the husband could not elaborate.
This prompted the advocate to say: “Sorry to be so crude, but did he force her to perform a blowjob?”
The husband seemed to be in the dark regarding the question, which again prompted the advocate to say: “You are an adult. Do you know what a blowjob is?”
The husband responded that he did not. This followed a short explanation by Pistorius of this particular act, to which the husband responded: “Thank you for that lesson.”
He was further questioned about the fact that he and his wife went to church the following Sunday after the alleged incident. Pistorius asked why they had returned to the proverbial lion’s den, after what they claimed had happened.
The husband responded that it was because of “habit” – going to church on a Sunday is what they did. He also said it was because of the “power of the kingdom of darkness”. He explained this meant that there was a power which forced him to do things he knew he should not do.
The husband described a situation at length to illustrate his point.
He explained how, during an earlier sermon, Zondo asked people from the pulpit to pledge at least R5 000 towards the church at that point. The husband said he had his credit card with him and although he had a lot of debt, he could not contain himself in wanting to be “there and then swipe his card”.
He described this as the “power of the kingdom of darkness”, which he said only God could relieve a person from.
He also told the court that shortly after the incident regarding his wife, he had accompanied her to the Evaton Police Station to lay a charge against Zondo. But, he said, none of the police officers were prepared to take their statement against Zondo.
According to the witness, the officers were terrified of Zondo.
Pistorius also questioned the husband about WhatsApp messages which Zondo has claimed the wife had sent to him after she and her husband broke away from his church.
The wife earlier denied this during her evidence and the husband said he knew nothing about it.
But Pistorius said the defence would prove this to be true.
The trial continues.
Pretoria News