The Gqeberha High Court heard the chilling details of how the 12th state witness, Vuyiseka Nontlazi, was allegedly sexually assaulted by disgraced televangelist Timothy Omotoso over a five-year span.
Nontlazi, 31, said she grew up in the Jesus Dominion International Church founded by Omotoso and was only 17 years old when the alleged sexual abuse started.
Nontlazi told the court that these incidents occurred at Omotoso's house in Durban and continued when they travelled to Nigeria and Israel.
"He asked me to move in with him in his Durban mansion, where I stayed with 20 other girls," she said.
She travelled abroad with Omotoso and other members of the church's Grace Galaxy choir.
According to Nontlazi, the incident in Israel had left her particularly numb since it happened in the Holy City.
She told the court how Omotoso would pray each time he allegedly sexually assaulted her.
"When it first happened we had travelled to Bloemfontein for a church crusade, and the church's general secretary came and told me to go up to his room," referring to Omotoso's hotel room.
"When I got there he was wearing a T-shirt and underwear. He told me to undress. I was confused and scared but I did as instructed because I feared him."
She further told the court that Omotoso allegedly forced her head down onto his private parts.
Afterwards, she was told to clean up and then go attend a night vigil. From there on it became a daily occurrence when they got back to the house in Durban.
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"He told me he'd curse me and my life would amount to nothing if I disobeyed him," she told the court.
Last week, Dr Karen Muller of the Child Witness Institute said interviews with 22 of Omotoso's alleged victims had indicated that all of them fell into the category of grooming.
"Grooming is designed to remove consent and force compulsion," she said.
During cross-examination by defence attorney, Peter Daubermann, Nontlazi admitted that she did not resist Omotoso's advances.
Daubermann put it to her that in her version, Omotoso would not have had any reason to believe that she was not a willing participant.
"I was scared of him. He had complete authority over me," she said.
Throughout the cross-examination, Daubermann focused on the issue of consent and asked her what was going through her mind when a man she had respected for so long asked her to undress.
Nontlazi maintained that she was scared of what would happen to her life if she disobeyed Omotoso as he would often repeat in their interactions that if she ever dared to disobey him, he would curse her.
She conceded that she had never verbally refused his advances, but her body language spoke loudly.
Omotoso and his co-accused, Zukiswa Sitho and Lusanda Sulani, are facing a total of 62 charges ranging from rape, sexual assault and human trafficking to racketeering.
The trial continues in the Gqeberha High Court.
