Durban - The multi-million rand Umhlanga mansion where Cheryl Zondi was allegedly sexually assaulted and kept, was once in the occupancy of former ANC Youth League Sindiso Magaqa’s family.
This revelation was made by Sindiso Magaqa’s nephew, Ndibulele, who lived in the house for about 18 months with his father and stepmother between 2013 and 2014.
Ndibulele’s birth mother, is a sibling of the former secretary general of the ANCYL who was murdered in his hometown of Umzimkhulu last year.
“After I saw the newspaper link about the house I was like ‘haibo’, I know this house, this is the house we used to live in,” he said in a telephonic interview on Thursday.
He said Sindiso Magaqa never personally visited the house in Umhlanga, to which the family rented about R60 000 per month at the time. He said at the time, the house was valued at over R8m.
Asked how he felt about the house now, given Zondi’s chilling testimony in the Port Elizabeth High Court this week, Ndibulele said; “We have so many nice memories from that house, we shared some good memories in the house as a family and we still have lots of videos and stuff from the house, to know the bad stuff that (allegedly) happened there was a shock,” he said.
Ndibulele, who is 27, said he moved to Pietermaritzburg when they left the house, while his parents had bought property and settled in another Umhlanga house nearby.
“Everything was posh at that house,” he said describing the house. “I’ve lived in a penthouse before, but that house was really special,” he said.
The Umhlanga house where Timothy Omotoso and members of his church stayed. Ndibulele Magaqa and his family also rented the house in 2013, 2014. Picture: Instagram
Earlier this week, the current occupants of the house would not permit a Daily News team into the house.
Describing the interior of the house, Ndibulele said the double storey house had eight bedrooms, marble floors, marble-topped kitchen cupboards, a swimming pool, a triple garage, gold door handles, an entertainment room and an open style living room. It had no heated floors at the time however, he added.
He said four bedrooms were located on the ground floor, while four bedrooms were upstairs, with the main bedroom ensuite located to the left of the house upstairs, while the three other bedrooms were to the right.
He said the balconies upstairs overlooked the mansion’s swimming pool.
Meanwhile, the trial against the Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso will continue on Monday, October 22.
Omotoso, along with his two alleged henchwomen, Zukiswa Sitho and Lusanda Sulani, are accused of recruiting girls from all over the country for purposes of sexual exploitation.
Omotoso faces 63 main charges and 34 alternative counts, including human trafficking, rape, sexual assault, racketeering and conspiracy in aiding another person to commit sexual assault.
The televangelist allegedly trafficked more than 30 girls and women from various branches of his church to a house in uMhlanga, where he allegedly sexually exploited them.