By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Palm Ridge Magistrates Court has dismissed State submissions that self-proclaimed pastor Paseka “Mboro” Motsoeneng had violated his bail conditions.
Mboro, Vincent Baloyi, and his son appeared in the Palm Ridge Magistrates Court, Ekurhuleni.
The three are facing charges of kidnapping, possession of dangerous weapons, discharging a firearm, pointing a firearm, assault by way of threats, malicious damage to property, possession of an unlicensed firearm, as well as malicious damage to a vehicle.
They were arrested on 5 August after a video went viral.
In the video, Mboro can be seen wielding pangas at Matshidiso Primary School in Katlehong while his guard, Vincent, is brandishing a semi-automatic rifle.
During Monday’s proceedings, the state argued that Motsoeneng violated his bail conditions by mentioning a witness’ name in several media interviews.
Motsoeneng accused the witness and her family of setting fire to his church in Katlehong, according to the state.
In an affidavit, one of the complainants, Masiolo Margaret Mazala, expressed that she and her family feel threatened by the pastor’s statements.
“He further told the media that he owns many firearms and that everybody knows. That statement alone threatened me and my family; we live in fear.”
When we walk at the mall, people are threatening us saying that we burnt their church to ashes. I don’t feel comfortable with Pastor Mboro mentioning my name and that of my family, “the affidavit reads.
The prosecutor indicated that the investigating officer had been shown TikTok and YouTube clips on the complainant’s cellphone, which allegedly contained Motsoeneng’s statements as evidence of the violation.
She requested that the court issue a warning to Motsoeneng, urging him to refrain from mentioning the family’s names in the future.
However, Motsoeneng’s legal representative, Advocate Phillip Dlamini, argued the allegations of him breaking some of his bail conditions were baseless.
“We do not have a charge sheet nor were we informed of the names of witnesses. If the prosecution is trying to amend the bail conditions and is now informing us that Ms Mazala will be a witness is a new thing,” the lawyer said on Monday.
Dlamini argued that it was public knowledge the church had been burned down, and stated that his client would inevitably discuss the incident with the media.
After a brief adjournment, the magistrate dismissed the state’s submissions, stating that the prosecution needed to provide further evidence to support the allegations.
The case has been postponed to 11 November.
Motsoeneng previously offered a reward of R5 000 for information on the church arson as he claimed to have lost equipment valued at R1 million.