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By Mayibongwe Maqhina 
1 hour ago
Cape Town – Interior Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has revealed that the controversial self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary had five passports each issued by Malawi.
Reporting to the home affairs portfolio committee on Tuesday, Motsoaledi said his department became involved in the Bushiri affair sometime last year when the Hawks were investigating fraud, corruption and money laundering.
He said that in the course of their investigations, the Hawks found identifications that had many inconsistencies.
Motsoaledi also said that Mary entered South Africa through OR Tambo International Airport and presented a permanent resident permit that was issued to her in 1997.
“Obviously this is surprising,” he said, adding that his movement control system does not have a record of his entry into the country in 1997.
Motsoaledi also said that Bushiri entered the country in 2009, and that other records show the pair entered in 2013 with Bushiri registering companies and operating businesses between 2014 and 2016.
According to Motsoaledi, Bushiri should have applied for a business visa, but did not.
“It means that the businesses he ran were not within the law.”
Motsoaledi also said that Bushiri and Mary applied for permanent residence permits in 2016.
“They declared under oath that they entered for the first time in 2015. They were granted permanent residence in 2016,” he said.
However, Motsoaledi said the department concluded that the Bushiris’ stay in the country was not regular.
He also said that due to many anomalies, they had to revoke their permanent residency status.
“In August, Internal Affairs issued a notice asking Mr. Bushiri to explain the reasons why the permanent residence permit should not be withdrawn.”
According to Motsoaledi, the Bushiris approached the court seeking relief from the department not asking them questions because they had a criminal case to answer in court.
The court ruled in their favor, forcing the department to wait until they testified in court next year.
“We requested permission to appeal because we did not believe it was an appropriate decision,” he said.
The authorization to appeal, the trial of which was reserved, was heard when Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera was in the country last week.
The minister told parliamentarians that during the Bushiris’ bail request, his department had provided the irregular and fraudulent documents used and considered it a flight risk that should not be released.
“It is common, of course, that we are suffering from porous borders in this country. We believe that people at risk of flight can cross any of our porous borders,” he said.
The court granted the Bushiris a bond of 200,000 rand each and ordered them to report to the nearest police station on Mondays and Fridays.
Motsoaledi said the Hawks raised the alarm that the Bushiris did not report to the police station on the day the Malawian president’s entourage was due to depart from Waterkloof Air Force Base.
At that time, a forward team from the Malawian presidential entourage wanted to depart on the presidential plane, but they were told it could not happen.
He said the advance team was recommended to board at OR Tambo International Airport after negotiations.
Motsoaledi detailed the process that was followed until the team was allowed to board the presidential plane on the OR Tambo runway after they were processed like any other passenger.
Before the plane left, it was searched and there was no sign of Bushiris, he said.
Motsoaledi said Saturday they heard that Bushiri reappeared in Malawi.
He said this happened despite being instructed to hand over their travel documents to the police.
“Mr. Bushiri has five passports and they are all issued in Malawi. Mrs. Bushiri has five passports issued by Malawi, not issued by us.
Motsoaledi said the department had checked with its motion control system.
“Our motion control system indicated that the last time the Bushiris officially passed through any port of entry was on January 19, 2019, when they entered South Africa through OR Tambo International Airport.
“After January 19, 2019, there is no movement to indicate that none of the Bushiris passed through any of our ports,” he said.
Political Bureau
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