Business as usual after Bushiri hosts live church service
The Enlightened Christian Gathering leader and his wife Mary are now considered fugitives by South African authorities, after fleeing to Malawi but despite violating his bail conditions, self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri took to online to hold his first virtual church service since fleeing to Malawi last month which was well attended by his followers around South Africa and other places in Southern Africa. Although they face fraud, theft and money laundering charges to the tune of R102 million, and were granted bail of R200, 000 each. South African authorities are now pursuing an official extradition process to return the pair to stand trial for their alleged crimes in South Africa. It is still not known exactly how they managed to leave South Africa. Bushiri said he would approach the Malawian government for assistance, and reportedly has a number of demands for the South African government to meet before he and his wife returned to stand trial. Bushiri voiced “safety and security issues” for he and his wife, saying the threats escalated when they got out of jail. He also said they were in Malawi temporarily. In another development, a Malawian government official has declared that the Malawian government will handle the extradition with care and would not be pressured to hand over its citizens. Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola has revealed that the South African government expects to send documents of the extradition process of fugitive pastor, Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary, as prescribed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) protocol. “We expect them to send the extradition papers in two weeks instead of the 30 days set by SADC. “It’s date we have set ourselves as the central authority because we understand the urgency of the matter and upon sending the document we will communicate with our colleagues in Malawi with the requests that have been mentioned in the documents,” he said This came after a Cabinet meeting was held on 18 November. The Bushiris violated their bail conditions by skipping the country to Malawi. Speaking to the media, Lamola said Cabinet was “satisfied”
with the manner in which the justice, crime, prevention and security cluster had handled the Bushiris’ matter. However, the minister added that it had not yet been established how the couple escaped the country. “Cabinet was also briefed on the issue of Mr. Shepherd and Mrs. Mary Bushiri, who fled to Malawi while out on bail following charges of fraud and money laundering. “I don’t want to fuel any further speculation on how they fled South Africa, but warrants of arrest have already been issued and they have been reflagged by international organization Interpol in the process. After that then the provisional arrest will be able to kick start the extradition process under SADC protocols. “They will without a doubt be back in South Africa so they can stand trial and we assure them that the legal process will be fair, as it has always been. “We are confident that the Malawian government will handle the extradition, and the matter overall, with care. We believe that the Malawian judiciary is robust and capable of withstanding pressure on any matter,” he said. The Bushiris were due in court on the matter in January 2021. The first warrant of arrest was issued for the couple last month, while a second warrant of arrest was issued by the North Gauteng High Court early this month. They were each required to regularly present themselves to authorities as part of complying with their bail conditions and that they have failed to do. Compiled by Nica Richards
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