Tim Omotoso Files Urgent Application To Overturn Illegal Status Declaration

• Pastor Timothy Omotoso, who was arrested on 10 May 2025 for contravening the Immigration Act, is fighting to stay in South Africa
• He filed an urgent court application to overturn the prohibited status declaration that the Department of Home Affairs made
• This was after Home Affairs announced, hours after his arrest, that he was declared to be illegally in the country

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered criminal activities, cash-in-transit heists, kidnappings, taxi violence, police investigations, police shootouts and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.

EAST LONDON, EASTERN CAPE — Pastor Timothy Omotoso, who was arrested on 10 May 2025 in East London, has applied to overturn the Department of Home Affairs' decision to declare him a prohibited person.

Tim Omotoso fights Home Affairs declaration

Omotoso appeared before the East London Magistrates Court two days after he was arrested just outside of his church. The South African Police Service's national commissioner, Fannie Masemola, confirmed that the Department of Home Affairs and the police worked together to arrest him.

Home Affairs upheld a decision Omotoso had earlier contested to declare him an illegal resident of the country. Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber considered Omotoso's application and upheld the decision to declare him a prohibited resident.

Omotoso's arrest comes a month after he was found not guilty of the various charges he faced, including rape and kidnapping. Omotoso and his co-accused were on trial since his arrest eight years ago, and he was acquitted of the charges against him.

The National Prosecuting Authority faced criticism after Omotoso was found not guilty. The judge, in delivering her verdict, accused the state of not making an effort to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty. she also accused the state prosecutor of jeopardising the case with his actions, accusing him of not knowing the definition of rape.

What did South Africans say?

Netizens commenting on IOL's Facebook post discussed the case.

Sipiwo Pahlane said:

"As long as there's a good number of his followers here and benefits associated with them being around him, he will fight to stay."

Freddy Mcapukisi said:

"He will win, because he knows the trick. Our justice system is very lenient and weak."

Hloks Molaudi said:

"He realised he's having it easy here in South Africa."

Nyana Womntu said:

"Simply taking advantage of the weak system."

Ntakadzeni Munyai said:

"This person is highly protected by women. It's not even worth talking about because you'll be making noise for nothing."

Lucky Makhuvhele said:

"So the South Africans are fighting each other in support of him. I am very disappointed in South Africans."

Omotoso's follower pleads to be locked up in his place

In a related article, Briefly News reported that a follower of Omotoso pleaded with the police to arrest her and replace him with her. Videos of her passionate plea went viral.

In the clips, the woman accuses South Africans of harbouring hatred for Omotoso. She called on the law enforcement to take her and said Omotoso was innocent.

Source: Briefly News