Joseph Chirume
Pastor Luthando Matodlana, who founded the powerful God is Love Ministry, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for raping a man he met on Mxit in 2013.
The victim, then 22, was raped by Pastor Matodlana, then 34, in his bedroom in Motherwell, Gqeberha.
The assault took place three years before Matodlana founded God is Love in 2016, which has since grown to 14 branches across Eastern Cape.
The pastor was arrested after his victim posted a lengthy testimony of the rape on his Facebook page, in which he said he has since struggled to recover.
The post led the victim’s friends to encourage him to report the crime to the police.
This did not go down well with Matodlana, who threatened the victim to delete the posts or else face a lawsuit.
The victim also received threats to his safety, which were so severe he had to leave his home and take refuge at his cousin’s property. He eventually opened a case of rape and the accused was arrested on 1 October 2020.
Matodlana was sentenced on Thursday by Magistrate Audrey Mashigo at Motherwell Magistrate’s Court.
“Rape has become a sport in Motherwell. This is a serious case because it was committed against a member of the LGBT community who are often looked down upon. There is a need to protect this group. They are entitled to feel safe wherever they are. Rape is a traumatic event,” Mashigo told the court.
Matodlana told the court during the trial that they had agreed to have sex and the victim was a gay sex worker who tried to extort large amounts of money from him.
Explaining why Mashigo had decided to jail Matodlana for seven years, three years less than the prescribed minimum of 10 years, she said that the accused had never committed any other crime after that.
She said he was an ordinary member of the community before forming his own church in 2016.
She said he had turned a new leaf of life after forming his church and was assisting disadvantaged members of the community.
