Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso has been deported from South Africa following a ruling by the Department of Home Affairs, which declared him an undesirable person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to The South African, a local news outlet, Omotoso was deported on Sunday after leaving the country via OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report disclosed that the pastor was escorted by the police and Home Affairs officials to board a flight back to Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Omotoso\u2019s deportation comes shortly after his acquittal, along with co-accused Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho, on multiple charges including rape, sexual assault, and human trafficking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The high-profile case spanned eight years, culminating in their not-guilty verdict in April 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the report, the Department of Home Affairs revealed that Omotoso had applied under Section 8(7) of the Immigration Act to overturn his status as a prohibited person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the application was denied by South Africa\u2019s Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Explaining the decision, the department spokesperson, Siya Qoza, stated, \u201cUpon his departure, Omotoso was still a prohibited person, and given that he was illegally in the country, he was issued with a notification as an undesirable person, meaning that he will not be able to return to the country for five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn expiry of that five-year ban, he will have to apply for his prohibition to be uplifted in terms of Section 29 of the Immigration Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Department of Home Affairs continues to be guided by our unwavering commitment to upholding the rule of law without fear or favour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Omotoso, founder of Jesus Dominion International, had been rearrested in East London just days before his deportation on immigration-related offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Omotoso\u2019s acquittal had drawn significant public scrutiny, with civil society groups, activists, and political leaders raising concerns over the judicial outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Critics had also questioned the role of the NPA and the handling of the case, which many had hoped would deliver justice for victims of gender-based violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response to the public outcry, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi, according to the report, requested a detailed report from the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Shamila Batohi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKubayi said her concern stemmed from the apparent shortcomings in the prosecution\u2019s handling of the case, resulting in a significant setback in the pursuit of justice for victims of gender-based violence and related crimes,\u201d Kubayi was quoted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to africanews.com, over 90 Nigerians were deported from South Africa in August 2024, following the earlier deportation of 97 others in February of the same year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With his removal, Pastor Omotoso now joins the ranks of hundreds of Nigerians who have been deported from South Africa in recent times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso has been deported from South Africa following a ruling by the Department of Home Affairs, which declared him an undesirable person. According to The South African, a local news outlet, Omotoso was deported on Sunday after leaving the country via OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. The report disclosed that the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13709,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/img_2528-1.jpg?fit=300%2C168&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13711,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13710\/revisions\/13711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}