Bronkhorstspruit pastor sentenced to 37 years imprisonment for rape

Emeka was convicted on September 22 for 19 counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, being illegally in the country and being in the possession of/or using a falsified permanent residence permit.

He had raped and sexually assaulted five women who were members of his congregation between 2015 and 2018 in and around Bronkhorstspruit.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) welcomed this sentence.

NPA North Gauteng regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana issued a statement saying the court ordered that Emeka’s name be added to the national register for sexual offenders.

“He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm,” said Mahanjana.

In raping and sexually assaulting the women, Emeka used the same modus operandi.

He would tell his victims that they had “a problem” and that he needed to pray and bless them for him to help them.

Emeka told one of his victims, who was also assisting with babysitting Emeka’s children, that by sleeping with him he was helping her take “things that were inside her out”, and until those “things” came out she would not be able to conceive.

One of Emeka’s victims fell pregnant. Because of the rape, the woman could not tell who the father of her child was between the pastor and her husband.

When the woman testified in court, the DNA results to determine who the father was, were not yet out.

Emeka was arrested in 2018 after his victims reported him to another pastor in the church who then encouraged them to go to the police.

“Emeka was in custody since his arrest though he denies ever committing those offences,” said Mahanjana.

State advocate Dorah Ngobeni argued that South Africa is faced with two pandemics: Covid-19 and abuse against women and children.

She said to deal with the pandemic of abuse against women and children, the courts needed to act decisively.

“Pastor Emeka was in a position of trust. The congregants trusted and confided in him and he used that information to prey on them to perform all those kinds of offences,” Ngobeni said.