Clergy and traditional leaders in Buffalo City are calling for controversial Nigerian televangelist, Timothy Omotoso, to be deported from South Africa. Omotoso was arrested in the early hours of Saturday in East London for contravening the Immigration Act.

A statement released by Home Affairs on behalf of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster confirmed that an operation led to the arrest.

According to South Africa’s Immigration Act, a prohibited person may be barred from entering or staying in the country for reasons including criminal history, posing a security threat, or violating immigration laws. This designation allows the state to initiate deportation proceedings, although individuals have the right to appeal or seek legal recourse.

According to the statement, the arrest follows the decision by the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr. Leon Schreiber to reject the application submitted by Omotoso that sought to overturn the earlier decision of the department to declare him a prohibited person. “Omotoso earlier challenged his status as a prohibited person in court, and the court held that his status should be remitted back to the Department for reconsideration. After carefully reconsidering the matter, the Minister upheld the decision to declare Omotoso as a prohibited person,” reads the statement.

This comes less than a month after the Gqeberha High Court acquitted Omotoso of 32 charges, including rape, sexual assault and human trafficking, sparking outrage around the country.

Omotoso’s legal team has filed an urgent high court application to overturn his prohibited status.

They argue that the decision made by the Minister of Home Affairs was procedurally flawed and legally contestable. The application was officially lodged shortly after his arrest and is pending review.

Late in April, BCM (Buffalo City Metropolitan) Mayor Princess Faku issued a statement prohibiting his church, Jesus Dominion International, from hosting a crusade at the Orient Theatre or any other facility in the metro. However, this did not stop the crusade from taking place for a week in East London.

Speaking outside the East London Magistrates Court on Monday, where Omotoso appeared, Reverend Pam Daweti said as religious leaders they do not want to be associated with him.

“We initiated this, we mobilised each other as pastors and said not on our watch. When the BCM mayor prohibited his church from hosting the crusade and his congregants forced the matter, we decided to intervene as spiritual leaders because he is a pastor and you cannot defy orders from municipal leadership. This is Mayor Princess Faku’s property; we expected him to obey the laws. We approached members of his church, but they did not want to engage us hence we took an initiative to hand a petition to court,” she said.

Daweti said they handed a memorandum of demands calling for the justice department to protect women and children who fall victim to gender-based violence.

The religious leaders also demanded that the home affairs department deport Omotoso back to his country of origin. “From now when foreign national pastors are visiting this country, it must be known for how long they will be staying here, and they must ensure that they have left the country when they are done with their business,” said Daweti.

Omotoso’s court appearance was delayed as the media was initially not allowed inside court. The media was allowed to cover the case but were prohibited from filming or broadcasting the court proceedings.

His defence argued that his arrest was irrational in that Omotoso was appealing the home affairs decision to prohibit him from being in South Africa. The case will continue on Tuesday for further proceedings.