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A pastor from Luvisi Village, which falls under the Nquthu Municipality, was arrested for raping 13 children, between the ages of five and 13 years old.
With the Pastor appearing in court, social workers from the KZN Department of Social Development picketed outside the Nquthu Magistrate Court, voicing their anger at his heinous acts, demanding that he be denied bail.
During the court proceedings, the pastor decided to abandon his bail application and therefore will be back in court on 14 October 2022.
With the court proceedings underway, KwaZulu-Natal Social Development MEC, Nonhlanhla Khoza, has called for a harsh sentence to be handed down on the villainous religious leader. “It is alleged that the reverend has been luring young girls and boys to watch cartoons and later play pornographic videos to watch with children. The 56-year-old man of the cloth was allegedly caught when a boy reported the matter to his mother, including the allegation that 11 boys and two girls, suffered at the hands of the man.”
The Department further pointed out that the victim’s mother verified the information with other victims before reporting it to the local police.
It is alleged that the reverend started molesting children in 2021, with the last incident on Sunday, 18 September 2022. MEC Khoza said it was shocking that children were raped by the reverend over a period of one year and no one in the community was able to stop these horrendous incidents.
“It is very shocking that a man trusted by parents took advantage of children by sexually abusing them. We are very disturbed that a man who is supposed to be helping parents in raising their children is the one caught being involved in such alleged despicable cases in the community,” she said.
MEC Khoza added that religious leaders were expected to be the ones who should have high moral standards in building a violence-free society where children and women were safe.
“We call on parents and communities to be extra vigilant and pay more attention to their children. These children constantly visited the reverend after school because they were manipulated.”
However, MEC Khoza commended the South African Police Services (SAPS) for arresting the man. She also lauded the parent who noticed the strange behaviour of her son, which led to more abused children being found.
“People like this one must be jailed for a long time and law enforcement agencies need to close all loopholes in the cases. The man must not get bail because he is a danger to society,” the MEC concluded.
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That is shocking I hope he spends the rest of his life In jail so he cannot hurt any more children