Despite Judge Irma Schoeman rejecting the NPA’s bid for ‘clarification’ on her ruling that acquitted Timothy Omotoso, the State says it will push forward with an appeal — and the Department of Home Affairs has signalled it will lift Omotoso’s five-year ban to ensure he faces trial in South Africa.
On Tuesday 22 July 2025, the Eastern Cape High Court in Gqeberha dismissed the National Prosecuting Authority’s clarification request. The judge, Schoeman, who acquitted Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso and his co-accused, says the NPA is not entitled to ask for clarification of her judgement before filling an application for leave to appeal.
This comes after Omotoso and his co-accused, Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho, got acquitted of various charges, including rape, sexual assault and human trafficking in April. Schoeman slammed the State for failing to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
On the clarification request, Schoeman ruled that the NPA did not apply for leave to appeal on a point of law during the trial and its conclusion.
“Nor have they at this stage filed a notice of application for leave to appeal on a point of law in terms of Section 319 of the CPA (Criminal Procedure Act).”
“Furthermore, during argument by the State, it became obvious that what is required by the request for clarification is that I have to supplement my factual findings. The argument was that I must have drawn conclusions during the evidence that are not contained in the judgement, and the State needs facts that I have not mentioned in the judgement, to be able to formulate the legal point it wishes to take on appeal.
“This clearly would be to correct, alter or supplement my judgement,” said Schoeman.
NPA national spokesperson, advocate Mthunzi Mhanga said they anticipated the same outcome from the judge.”
We expected this [judgement] because when we were arguing the matter, with due respect, she was clearly misinterpreting the case law that we relied upon.
We will now proceed to draft the questions of law for reservation for consideration by the Supreme Court of Appeal before the end of this week. If necessary, we will also apply for condonation.”He argued that Omotoso’s acquittal was devastating for the State’s efforts to fight gender-based violence.
“The [acquittal] has far-reaching implications in our [resolve] to deal fearlessly with gender-based violence, in particular, sexual offences cases. We believe strongly that the honourable judge miscredited herself in applying the law on facts that were before her in acquitting Omotoso, hence we are prepared to go all the way to the Supreme Court of Appeal,” he said.
Omotoso’s legal representative, Peter Daubermann, said the State had no legal basis for the request.
He added that the request was not only irregular and incompetent, but misconceived in principle.
When Advocate Apla Bodlani SC brought the application last week, he indicated that the NPA had grounds on which it wished to appeal against the judgment, but it wanted Schoeman to provide a more detailed explanation of her findings to ensure its approach would be “sustainable”.
Its application was met with much criticism from the defence, which accused the State of embarking on a “fishing expedition” to build the basis for its appeal.
Normal procedure would entail the prosecution first lodging an official appeal, then approaching the judge for clarification on specific points raised in the appeal. In this case no appeal process has started, and it appears the State is asking for a blanket clarification of Schoeman’s judgment as a whole.
“The rules on this sort of procedure are quite clear, and the NPA did not follow protocol. This application was doomed to fail from the start.”
Asked where his client currently resides, Griebenow said Omotoso went to Nigeria after his deportation, and he assumed that was where he remained.
