‘Judge erred’ – NPA to appeal Timothy Omotoso’s acquittal

The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Director of Public Prosecutions in the Eastern Cape, Barry Madolo, will appeal the judgment acquitting Timothy Omotoso and his co-accused.

Omotoso and his co-accused, Lusanda Solani and Zukiswa Sitho, were acquitted by the Gqeberha High Court of 32 serious charges, including allegations of rape, racketeering and human trafficking, on 2 April.

spokesperson advocate Mthunzi Mhaga said on Tuesday that the decision to appeal Omotoso’s acquittal follows a thorough consideration of the matter by an NPA internal team of experienced prosecutors and a legal opinion sourced from Senior Counsel.

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“The decision could not be rushed due to the complexity of the matter and the voluminous transcript that needed to be interrogated,” he said.

The NPA believes that there are reasonable prospects of a successful appeal despite the complexities of the legal process.

“The first step in this process is to request that the judge clarify factual findings.”

The relevant papers in this regard were filed with the Registrar of the High Court in Gqeberha on Monday.

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“Once a clarification of the factual findings is received from the Judge, the NPA’s legal team will finalise the papers on the reservation of questions of law and file this application with the Registrar of the High Court.”

Omotoso trial: NPA investigates its own

The NPA has also launched an internal investigation into the conduct of the first team of prosecutors involved in this matter, which started in August 2024.

Since the judgment, the scope of the investigation has been extended to include both prosecution teams, with a view to identifying, if necessary, disciplinary steps to be taken against persons involved.

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After the court’s judgment, the NPA appointed additional officials to assist with the investigation due to its extended scope. The report from the investigation is expected in June 2025.

“While in our appeal, we maintain that the judge erred in certain of her findings, the Omotoso judgment has had a tragic impact on the victims involved and seriously dented confidence in the NPA and the justice system to address SGBV matters.”

“SGBV remains an unacceptable scourge in our country. This is a crisis that requires holistic and whole-of-society responses to address. The NPA remains committed to providing victims of these crimes with the support they need and the prosecutorial expertise required to ensure that perpetrators are held to account.”

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