EC Director of Public Prosecutions says he accepts criticism over Omotoso matter

CAPE TOWN - The Director of Public Prosecutions in the Eastern Cape said that he accepts the criticism against the prosecution team which led the evidence in the Timothy Omotoso matter, because he picked them.

Advocate Barry Madolo told Parliament’s Justice Committee today that after the lead prosecutor was replaced when the problems were flagged, he didn’t expect the case to fail.

READ: Pastor Timothy Omotoso acquitted on all charges of rape, human trafficking

Madolo plans to appeal the acquittal of the Nigerian pastor once the judge as responded to a request for further clarity on her judgment, in which she was scathing of the prosecutors’  handling of the matter.

Madolo said that while he doesn’t want to preempt the outcome of an appeal against Timothy Omotoso’s acquittal, he’s committed to obtaining justice for the victims.

He believes the replacement prosecutors he deployed to the protracted trial had the job in hand, given their successes in similar cases.

"I take responsibility for picking that team because I did not just pick anyone. I picked people whom I thought were capable of dealing with the matter."

Madolo said that lead prosecutor Nceba Ntelwa, against whom the judge made a litany of misconduct findings - and who was removed from the case in 2021 -  is still under investigation.

Madolo told the committee he didn’t think that in this case Ntelwa had been a “good team player.”
"I put a team whom I thought was the best team. If I erred there, then the investigation will tell me I erred."

The NPA expects an investigation report into the prosecuting team to be finalised by the middle of next month.