Hundreds of people from various political parties, religious leaders and social activists marched in Nelson Mandela Bay on Wednesday in a protest against gender-based violence.
They marched to the Port Elizabeth High Court where a memorandum was presented to court officials calling on the government to take action against any forms of church-based exploitation.
Gender activists and religious leaders joined three Eastern Cape MEC’s on the march which came a day before the resumption of the rape and human trafficking trial of controversial Nigerian pastor, Timothy Omotoso, and his two co-accused Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho.
Eastern Cape Health MEC, Helen Sauls-August read out the list of six demands contained in the memorandum which was presented to a court official.
Among them was a call for the fight against gender-based violence to be extended to churches and be headed by all leaders in society. She added that religious leaders whose churches were shut down due to exploitative practises should be deported.
Sauls-August also called on the government to establish a task team that would oversee a national programme to educate society to be vigilant against church-based exploitation.
Meanwhile, legal argument is expected to be heard on Thursday afternoon in an application by Omotoso for leave to appeal a decision by Judge Mandela Makaula, not to recuse himself from the case.
Omotoso's lawyer, Peter Daubermann, brought the application on Monday, citing the judge's perceived bias towards state witness, 22-year-old Cheryl Zondi, which was dismissed by Makaula.
