- The Limpopo High Court has found a 58-year-old pastor guilty of three counts of rape and common assault.
- He would target young girls under 16 who had attended his church.
- On 30 September 2020, the Mankweng Regional Court sentenced him in another case to two life terms for two counts of rape of minor girls.
The Limpopo High Court has found a 58-year-old pastor guilty of three counts of rape and common assault.
He was also found to have called someone a witch.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), pastor James Devine Thubakgale of the Divine Deliverance Church, based in Seshego, Polokwane, presented himself to his congregants as a powerful man of God who could heal the sick, cast away evil spirits, and was sent to this world to save them.
NPA spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said:
He would demand that congregants take all their money to the church, including their retirement savings.
It is reported that the congregants in his church respected, obeyed and took orders from him as they believed he was part of the holy trinity and was closest to God.
Malabi-Dzhangi said his congregants did whatever Thubakgale wanted them to do.
"He would target young girls who were under 16 years of age, who had shown commitment to the word of God," she added.
Reign of terror
He reportedly promised them marriage, telling them that it was God himself who wanted them to be married.
He would then rape the girls at a lodge, in his motor vehicles and in their rooms, which he rented for them.
He would then threaten that if they refused to either marry or have sex with him, God would punish them for disobedience and there would be death and sickness in their families.
Malabi-Dzhangi said:
He assaulted his victims in full view of other congregants.
The victims believed Thubakgale was telling them the truth and they would oblige as they were promised that if they obeyed his orders, they would see heaven.
He continued his reign of terror between 2010 and 2017, and the victims didn't report the incidents to the authorities, due to their fear of sickness and death.
On 30 September 2020, the Mankweng Regional Court sentenced Thubakgale in another case to two life terms for two counts of rape of minor girls. The incidents took place in 2011 and 2012.
The case was postponed to 24 March 2021 for sentencing.