#OmotosoTrial: Nurse axed after saying Cheryl Zondi 'got what she deserved'

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Johannesburg - Private hospital group Mediclinic on Wednesday fired a staff member at Mediclinic Muelmed private hospital in Pretoria after comments she made about alleged rape victim Cheryl Zondi's testimony went viral on social media. "Mediclinic can confirm that the staff member in question is no longer in the employ of the nursing agency and that the individual has been requested to remove all association with the organisation effective immediately," Mediclinic said in a statement. "The Mediclinic has launched an investigation into the matter and have been in consultation with the nursing agency that employed the staff member." In social media posts brought to Mediclinic's attention on Twitter, screenshots of a conversation between two women describe Zondi's testimony against Nigerian evangelist Pastor Timothy Omotoso as unnecessary because "she got what she deserved". One of the screenshots - loosely translated from Zulu - said: "These kids are silently promiscuous and now they make it as if they were raped? Some of them still using their bodies in exchange of cash. He fu***d them a little, you know."

On Wednesday, Zondi concluded giving testimony in the Port Elizabeth High Court after a two-and-a-half days of gruelling cross-examination by defence advocate Peter Daubermann, at the rape and human trafficking trial of Omotoso.

Zondi, 22, had earlier testified that she was raped and sexually abused at the hands of Omotoso when she joined the Jesus Dominion International (JDI) in 2009, at the tender age of 13.

The Nigerian pastor faces 63 main charges and 34 alternative counts which include human trafficking, rape, sexual assault, racketeering and conspiracy in aiding another person to commit sexual assault.

His two alleged henchwomen, Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho, are accused of recruiting girls from all over the country for purposes of sexual exploitation.

The 58-year-old televangelist allegedly trafficked more than 30 girls and women who were from various branches of his church to a house in Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal, where he allegedly sexually exploited them.

* Read more on the #OmotosoTrial here

African News Agency (ANA)