TheCable

Tim Omotoso, a South African-based pastor, has been accused of sexually molesting members of his congregation.

Omotoso who is based in KwaZulu-Natal, a province in Durban, is the leader of Jesus Dominion International.

Several young girls have accused the pastor of luring them into his home where allegedly molested them.

Although the pastor has refused to speak on the allegations, some members of his church have come out to defend him.

It was reported that Omotoso has been on the run and has now gone into hiding.

But South Africa’s directorate for priority crime investigation otherwise known as the “Hawks”, said the reports which alluded that Omotoso was on the run was “exaggerated”.

The Hawks said Omotoso was not on the run and they had already begun an investigation into the matter before it was formally reported.

Robert Netshiunda, spokesperson of the Hawks, told Times Live that they have made progress in investigating the allegation against the pastor.

“There have been no arrests as yet but investigations are at an advanced stage and we are confident that we are making significant progress on the matter,” Netshiunda said.

Also, Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva, chairperson of the commission for the promotion and protection of the rights of cultural‚ religious and linguistic communities, said people must learn not to trust their pastors more than God.

“Very often they are more powerful than politicians because they draw their power from God. [Putting an end to this] should start with all of us. We must preach the same Gospel,” she said.

“People must not trust their pastors more than they trust God because when they do then they believe everything their pastor says.

“We will brief Parliament on the report over two days in June. We need a peer review mechanism to put an end to this. When a pastor does something wrong‚ they can be held accountable and removed from the register.

“Right now we could have a pastor with a sexual violence background leading a church or even a Sunday school teacher who just wants access to children. When vetting is done‚ congregants will be protected from sexual offenders.”