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Daily Maverick
4 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Pastor Omotoso continues legal battle over cancelled crusade venue, mayor's statements in East London
The Jesus Dominion International Church in East London and Pastor Timothy Omotoso are continuing legal action against the Buffalo City metro after mayor Princess Faku ordered the cancellation of their booking at the Orient Theatre, where Omotoso was scheduled to lead a 'New Dawn' crusade. Although Pastor Timothy Omotoso has since left South Africa, Stuart Laubscher, the Nelson Mandela Bay metro based lawyer representing The Jesus Dominion International Church in East London said he was still taking instructions from his client and intended to proceed with legal action against the metro and mayor Princess Faku over the cancellation and events leading up to Omotoso's departure from the country. In April, Omotoso was released from prison after Judge Irma Schoeman acquitted him on several charges of human trafficking and sexual assault. The charges stemmed from allegations by several young female congregants, who claimed Omotoso had sexually assaulted them in a church residence in Durban. Judge Schoeman ruled that the State had failed to prove its case, citing, among other issues, its failure to properly cross-examine Omotoso and his co-accused, Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho, and to lead corroborating evidence to strengthen the case of each witness. The National Prosecuting Authority has now taken the first steps to attempt to appeal this ruling and has asked for 'clarifications' on the ruling. Following his release from prison Omotoso relocated to East London where his church, Jesus Dominion International, was still active. At the beginning of May the church planned a 'New Dawn' crusade in the city led by Omotoso. For this purpose they rented the Orient Theatre in East London for R14,575. Faku, however, ordered that the booking be cancelled and said publicly that Omotoso wasn't welcome in the city. On 10 May, the second-last day of the crusade, Omotoso was arrested in a joint operation by immigration officials and the police pending his deportation. He was declared a prohibited person in South Africa. He was released from custody though to provide him with a chance to appeal this ruling, but then left the country of his own accord on 18 May. He has been banned from South Africa for five years and should he wish to return after that he must apply for his prohibition to be lifted, according to a statement by the Department of Home Affairs. Laubscher, however, said last week that Omotoso 'didn't have to leave South Africa' but did so of his own accord. He confirmed that he was awaiting instructions on how to proceed in taking legal action against the Buffalo City metro, for cancelling the church's booking and against Faku personally. He said in a letter that their case is that the municipality – including the mayor – acted outside the scope of its power by cancelling Jesus Dominion International's booking at the Orient Theatre and the church now wanted its deposit back. 'Pastor Omotoso was acquitted of all charges in the High Court in Gqeberha. The reason for his acquittal is at this stage of no importance or relevance. Under South African law he is innocent of all charges,' he said. 'The reason they advanced infringes upon our client's rights under the South African Constitution in various ways, which does not need any further explanation as it is glaringly obvious, including but not limited to their rights to religious freedom,' he added. He added that Omotoso's reputation was damaged by Faku's statements and the municipality's actions, and their contention was that the mayor and municipal officials have abused their power. 'There is a substantial claim against the municipality (and other parties) and we are just awaiting instructions to issue summons,' Laubscher said. In a letter addressed to the metro and Faku, Laubscher said the church's booking was cancelled without justification and this constituted a 'misuse of public office and authority'. 'The booking was paid for in full and received by the municipal officials in East London and was summarily cancelled by yourself and this constitutes a breach of contract,' the letter addressed to Faku reads. He added that his client wanted the reasons for the cancellation of the booking 'in writing and not via social media'.
Forbes
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Anoushka Shankar Curates Brighton Festival 2025: A Celebration Of Indian Art And Performance With Highlights Including Aakash Odedra Songs Of The Bulbul.
BF25 Guest Director Anoushka Shankar. Photo Credit Laura Lewis. BF25 Guest Director Anoushka Shankar. Photo Credit Laura Lewis. Anoushka Shankar, the Grammy-nominated renowned sitar virtuoso and composer, has taken the helm as Guest Director for the Brighton Festival 2025, bringing a rich tapestry of Indian art and performance to the forefront of this year's program. Her curation is themed around New Dawn and the program of diverse performances and artistic collaborations illuminates notions of transformation, renewal, and the interconnectedness of cultures. Brighton Festival is England's largest annual curated multi-arts festival and the 2025 edition features an eclectic multi-arts line-up curated by Shankar as a rallying cry for a more hopeful future. We are living through an era defined by conflict and unrest around the world, yet Shankar's theme of New Dawn invites performers at the festival to send a message of hope for our collective ability to heal and recover. Shankar's New Dawn festival program features seven world premieres including Wembley, written by Nikesh Shukla (The Good Immigrant) Nikesh Patel (Starstruck) and Himesh Patel (Yesterday) in the aftermath of the 2024 riots and a riveting programme of South Asian music, dance and performance including Meera Syal, Aakash Odedra, Aditya Prakash, Aruna Sairam and Arooj Aftab. Other highlights of the festival include evim [my home]. Ceyda Tanc is a Turkish-British choreographer who has presented two world premieres at Brighton Festival this year. Starring an all-female cast, Tanc's work explores the interplay between Turkish folk dance and contemporary UK culture. Tanc collaborated with childhood friend Natasha Granger to create evim as a magical interactive dance theatre piece for 0-5 year olds and their families. EVIM Ceyda Tanc Dance & Theatre Fideri Fidera, Brighton Festival 2025. EVIM Ceyda Tanc Dance & Theatre Fideri Fidera, Brighton Festival 2025. I was fortunate enough to witness Aakash Odedra's unforgettable dance performance Songs of the Bulbul at the Festival, which completely blew me away with his phenomenal energy and spirit. Songs of the Bulbul is a perfect fit for Shankar's theme of New Dawn and at its centre is a passionate dance performance that unfolds like poetry in motion. A moving meditation on life, death, and rebirth, it is at once deeply personal and universally resonant—an ode to Odedra's late mother, tenderly expressed through the character of a Bulbul (Persian for Songbird). Nightingales, or Bulbuls, are revered in Persian culture where their song represents a spiritual seeker looking for union with the divine. Aakash Odedra collaborated with choreographer Rani Khanam and musician Rushil Ranjan on Songs of the Bulbul, which is inspired by the ancient Sufi myth of a bulbul captured and held in captivity. The performance follows the experience of a Songbird–played by Odedra–who was bound ever closer and slowly died from a broken heart, emitting one last song before expiring. Odedra's magical performance tells the tale of beauty born out of loss and the freedom that can be found only through the ultimate sacrifice. The musical, dance and poetic traditions of Sufism are at the heart of this compelling new theatrical experience created by two of the world's leading Sufi Kathak artists. Odedra's epic dance performance combines the physicality of Kathak with the spiritual journey of Sufism on a quest to seeking unity with the Divine. Songs of the Bulbul, Aakash Odedra Company. Brighton Festival 25. Photo Credit Angela Grabowska Songs of the Bulbul, Aakash Odedra Company. Brighton Festival 25. Photo Credit Angela Grabowska Odedra inhabits this songbird with astonishing physicality, his fluid, soaring movements capturing both fragility and resilience. The performance is powerful and life-affirming, filled with visceral emotion that transcends the stage and invites the audience into a dreamlike realm. Beguiling and profound, Songs of the Bulbul is a rare work of dance that not only tells a story but also touches the soul. Odedra takes the audience on a mystical journey with his utterly mesmerising dance performance which emits so many emotions without any words. In Songs of the Bulbul, Odedra delivers a profoundly evocative performance and offers the audience an immersive experience steeped in grief, love, and spiritual transcendence. This new work is a deeply personal tribute to Odedra's late mother Kay—who he describes as his 'smiling bulbul who left her cage.' Through an eloquent fusion of movement and music, Odedra explores the fragile, soaring life of a songbird, using it as a metaphor for death, liberation, and the cyclical nature of existence. There is some reference in Odedra's performance to Whirling Dervishes of the Sufi order, who are known for their unique practice of whirling as part of religious ritual Sama. Also called Sufi whirling, the dance is a form of physical meditation and a way for dervishes to connect with God. Odedra takes the spirit of the Whirling Dervish and adapts it into a thoroughly contemporary dance performance which he puts his heart and soul into. From the moment he steps onto the stage, Odedra becomes the bulbul. His body channels both the anguish and the beauty of a creature caught between worlds. Every glide, every turn of his hand, pulses with emotion. His kathak-infused movements—rooted in the classical Sufi tradition—are not mere technical displays, but living, breathing expressions of longing, resistance, and ultimate surrender. At times he seems almost weightless, caught in a dance that feels like prayer; at others, his body twists in raw anguish, echoing the pain of loss and the yearning for transcendence. The performance is notable for its absence of spoken word. Yet in that silence, a story of immense depth unfolds—one of life, death, and eventual rebirth. Odedra guides the audience through these spiritual and emotional realms with the grace of a seasoned storyteller. The music, rich with Indian classical and devotional tones, acts as a second voice—an aural current upon which Odedra's movements sail. The rhythm of the tabla, the lament of string instruments, and the undercurrent of poetic chant form a symphony of sacred mourning and quiet hope. There is a meditative stillness to Songs of the Bulbul, a quality that invites reflection. It may well draw inspiration from The Conference of the Birds, the 12th-century Sufi parable by Attar of Nishapur, where birds journey in search of the mythical Simurgh, only to discover that the divine truth lies within. The Conference of the Birds is a poem about sufism, the doctrine propounded by the mystics of Islam. In Songs of the Bulbul, Odedra's songbird seems to travel through despair toward a luminous inner peace—an embrace of death not as an end, but a beginning. Ultimately, Songs of the Bulbul is not just a performance—it is a ritual, a requiem, and a rebirth. Odedra has crafted a work that is both deeply personal and universally resonant, rooted in cultural tradition yet unbound by geography or language. It is a stirring reminder that through art, we can give voice to the unspeakable, and in movement, find meaning beyond words. Anoushka Shankar, Brighton Festival 25. Photo Credit Carly Hildebrant. Anoushka Shankar, Brighton Festival 25. Photo Credit Carly Hildebrant A highlight of the festival promises to be Anoushka Shankar's performance of Chapter III– the culmination of her recent trilogy of mini-albums: Chapter I: Forever, For Now, Chapter II: How Dark it is Before Dawnand Chapter III: We Return to Light with a visionary new live show–on Sunday 25th May at Brighton Dome.
Daily Maverick
14-05-2025
- Daily Maverick
Nigerian Pastor Timothy Omotoso released from custody pending appeal against prohibited person decision
Members of the Jesus International Dominion Church burst into song on Tuesday after Pastor Timothy Omotoso was released from custody. Omotoso was arrested pending deportation on Saturday after he was once again declared a prohibited person in South Africa. Nigerian pastor Timothy Omotoso was once again a free man on Tuesday night after the East London Magistrates' Court ordered his release from custody pending an appeal against a decision to have him declared a prohibited person. By law, he should be given a chance to appeal or make representations over being declared a prohibited person. His supporters have called for a full and transparent investigation into the handling of his arrest. The court's decision comes as the National Prosecuting Authority indicated that it would move forward with an appeal against his acquittal, as well as that of his co-accused, Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho. Omotoso and the two women previously appeared in the Gqeberha High Court, charged with several counts of sexual assault and human trafficking. After a marathon trial spanning more than seven years, all three were acquitted when Judge Irma Schoeman found that the State had failed to prove its case. Schoeman pointed out in her ruling that the State prosecutors had also failed to cross-examine the accused properly and had failed to lead corroborating evidence. Both Sulani and Sitho were at the court proceedings in East London on Tuesday, where police guarded the building amid protests for and against Omotoso's deportation. 'The NPA's Director of Public Prosecutions in the Eastern Cape, Barry Madolo, has decided to appeal the judgment by Judge Irma Schoeman relating to the case against Timothy Omotoso,' NPA national spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga said in a statement on Tuesday. 'This decision follows a thorough consideration of the matter by an NPA internal team of experienced prosecutors, as well as a legal opinion sourced from senior counsel. The decision could not be rushed due to the complexity of the matter and the voluminous transcript that needed to be interrogated,' Mhaga said. Despite earlier indications by the NPA that Omotoso would be deported immediately after his acquittal, this did not happen. He moved to East London, where he launched a highly publicised crusade titled 'New Dawn'. Even after Buffalo City Executive Mayor Princess Faku barred him from using municipal venues, Omotoso continued preaching at a private property in Commercial Road. He was arrested there on Saturday, after he had been declared a prohibited person by the Minister of Home Affairs last week, in another setback for his longstanding battle to stay in South Africa. This status, however, stems not from the criminal proceedings, but from allegations that he used fraudulent documentation to enter South Africa. According to the Department of Home Affairs' procedures, he should be given the chance to make provisions for his 'unbanning' once declared a prohibited person. Instead, though, he was arrested immediately after the letter had been served. Footage broadcast on Newzroom Afrika showed members of his congregation dancing and singing after hearing of his release. The Director of Christians for South Africa, Obed Molemo, said they wanted to commend the judiciary for upholding justice, fairness and due process. He said the arrest of Omotoso was premature and unlawful. 'It has sent shockwaves throughout the Christian community and raised serious questions about [Pastor Omotoso]'s constitutional rights,' Molemo said. 'The events of the past weekend were distressing,' Molemo said. 'But today's ruling has restored hope in the rule of law.' The Department of Home Affairs said it had noted the court's ruling and would determine its next steps after receiving the magistrate's written reasons. DM
eNCA
13-05-2025
- Politics
- eNCA
Omotoso back in court
EASTERN CAPE - Controversial Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso is back in court. He was arrested on Saturday morning on immigration-related charges while leading a "New Dawn" crusade. Home Affairs says he entered the country illegally 25 years ago using fraudulent documents. But his legal team says the claims are misleading. His latest arrest comes after he was acquitted in April of 32 charges - including rape, human trafficking, and racketeering.
Daily Maverick
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Pastor Timothy Omotoso's lawyers challenge deportation order in urgent court bid
Controversial pastor Timothy Omotoso's legal team has brought an urgent application to review the decision by Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber, declaring him a prohibited person in South Africa. He also made an appearance in the East London Magistrates' Court on Monday afternoon for an inquiry into his deportation. Pastor Timothy Omotoso is fighting to stay in South Africa and did legal battle in both the East London Magistrates' Court and the high court on Monday. Omotoso was leading a 'New Dawn' crusade in East London when he was arrested on Saturday, 10 May, his first church appearance since he was released from custody last month. After spending seven years awaiting trial on charges of sexual assault and the human trafficking of young women in his congregation, Omotoso was acquitted of the charges by Judge Irma Schoeman, who found the State had botched the prosecution by, among other matters, failing to cross-examine properly or lead corroborating evidence. Following his April release from custody, Omotoso appeared in East London, where a branch of his church, Jesus Dominion International, remains open. The Gqeberha-based branch was closed in 2018 after protests by the ANC Women's League and a municipal finding that it violated a by-law. Obed Molemo, a spokesperson for Christians for South Africa, said on Monday that they were concerned Omotoso had been arrested without the correct paperwork. Supported by Omotoso backers who requested anonymity, Molemo said that police commanders at Fleet Street and Cambridge police stations in East London had initially refused to detain Omotoso because they had not received the proper documentation. 'The letter about him being declared a prohibited person came late,' Molemo said. He said the police finally detained him in Mdantsane. 'We feel the attack on Omotoso is personal,' Molemo said. The South African Police Service has not commented on these allegations. Protests and support The proceedings against Omotoso were delayed for hours on Monday while agitated church members, some wearing choir uniforms, sang in support of the pastor. Members of other churches, among them some of the city's prominent clergy, also protested, calling for his immediate deportation. The EFF in the Eastern Cape joined the call for Omotoso to be deported. According to the Scalabrini Centre, a person arrested pending deportation must be brought before the court within 48 hours. Omotoso appeared for an inquiry on Monday afternoon. While the hearing initially took place in chambers, it was later opened to the public. The law further states that a person must then be informed of a deportation decision in writing. In submissions made to the court on Monday, Omotoso's legal team said the letter served on him was identical to one used in 2022 when he was declared a prohibited person. At that time, the grounds were that Omotoso possessed fraudulent documentation. The same reason is now again being used. In 2022, Omotoso was declared a prohibited person by the then Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi. This was after the pastor's internal appeal to Home Affairs officials had been dismissed. The Department of Home Affairs, however, conceded that this decision was open for review. Back then, Omotoso's lawyers argued that a judge, and not Home Affairs officials, should decide whether he was a prohibited person, claiming the department was biased against him. At the time, Omotoso accused Home Affairs of 'forming a united front' with the National Prosecuting Authority. The court disagreed, and the matter was remitted to the current Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, who reaffirmed the decision to declare Omotoso a prohibited person. It was this decision that was explained to Omotoso in a letter served on him on Saturday, when he was arrested. Omotoso's legal team has now filed an urgent application in the East London High Court seeking to have this decision set aside. He is expected to appear in court again on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the National Prosecuting Authority has not indicated whether it will appeal against Judge Schoeman's ruling. DM
