Daily Digest Online

The South African state's faltering legal pursuit of televangelist Timothy Omotoso has suffered another major setback, with a High Court judge citing fundamental failures in the prosecution's courtroom conduct as the reason for upholding his acquittal. Judge Irma Schoeman of the Gqeberha High Court dismissed the state's application for leave to appeal on Friday, December 12, delivering a sharp rebuke to prosecutors. Omotoso and his two co-accused remain free after being found not guilty on all charges of human trafficking, rape, and racketeering in April 2025. The Court's Ruling: A "Fatal" Prosecutorial Error In her ruling, Judge Schoeman identified a core failure that doomed the state's case. She stated that during the trial, prosecutors did not properly cross-examine the accused, leaving their version of events effectively unchallenged. "Because the accused were not challenged on their version of events, the court was forced ...

HARRISMITH, South Africa — A 50-year-old headmaster of a private boarding school in the Free State has been arrested and suspended after being accused of sexually assaulting and raping a 15-year-old student in his care, an incident that has left the teenager severely traumatized. The alleged assault occurred last month at the school in Harrismith. According to the girl's 42-year-old mother, the harassment began earlier this year when the principal repeatedly questioned the student about her virginity. The situation escalated on November 11, when the headmaster allegedly summoned the girl to his office. The mother recounted that after asking for a hug, which her daughter refused, the principal instructed the girl to go to an old office block. It was there, she alleges, that the assault took place. The teenager confided in friends, who urged her to tell her parents. Her parents immediately drove 280 kilometers from Johannesburg to confront the school. #### **A...

The daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma is at the center of an international scandal and a bitter family feud after being accused of luring at least 17 men—including eight family members—into fighting for Russia in Ukraine under false pretenses, leading to her resignation from parliament. Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, a prominent daughter of former President Jacob Zuma, has resigned from her seat in South Africa's parliament amid explosive allegations that she helped traffic fellow citizens to the front lines of the war in Ukraine. The scandal, which has triggered a police investigation and exposed deep divisions within one of the country's most famous political families, began when Zuma-Sambudla's half-sister, Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube, filed a formal criminal complaint against her. The Alleged Scheme: From Job Training to the Trenches According to the complaint and accounts from families, at least 17 South African men were recruited with pr...