How the Bushiris were smuggled out of South Africa

By Piet Mahasha Rampedi 39m ago

Sources said Bushiri, who is the spiritual leader of the Illuminated Christian Gathering Church (ECGC), requested the intervention of the Malawian government after his lawyers told him he faced a minimum 15-year jail sentence because the National Tax Authority had a strong fraud and money laundering case against him.

Ramaphosa spokesman Tyrone Seale yesterday dismissed allegations that the president worked with Chakwera to help Bushiri evade justice by organizing a decoy state visit and allowing his ministers and officials to cooperate with Malawians.

“There is no basis for that. And you would have seen it in the week the president gave interviews where he said this was disappointing and said he had asked for a background report to be prepared for what happened here, ”Seale said.

“This visit was part of a solidarity tour that President Chakwera was conducting in the region.

“It is quite similar to what our president did in 2018 when he went to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia to introduce himself to neighboring leaders and discuss relations between the countries.

“President Chakwera conducted a similar solidarity tour and it was deemed feasible and safe to physically conduct the visit with the necessary Covid-19 checks in place.”

Seale referred the additional inquiries to the chief executive officer of the government’s information and communications system (GCIS), Phumla Williams, who did not respond to questions.

However, in a statement last Sunday, the GSIC said the government “was able to confirm that the fugitives Mr. Shepherd Bushiri and Mrs. Mary Bushiri did not leave South Africa aboard a flight carried by President Lazarus Chakwera and his delegation”.

Malawi’s information minister, Gospel Kazako, has repeatedly told the media this week that the Chakwera government had no idea how Bushiri got out of South Africa.

However, according to high-level sources, this is how the Bushiris have been smuggled:

• Bushiri requested help from Chakwera through the Malawian embassy; Chakwera instructed the embassy to come up with a plan to save Bushiri and his billionaire rand assets or smuggle him out of South Africa;
• Malawian intelligence agents at the embassy considered options, including smuggling it through Mozambique, rushing it onto the presidential plane, or lobbying for Mary’s acquittal and a lesser sentence for Bushiri;
• After spending two weeks in jail, Bushiri had the options and flatly rejected the option of SA jail; Chakwera, through the Malawi embassy, ​​then lobbied the Ramaphosa administration for help;
• The Malawians bet on their constitution, which protects diplomats and prohibits extraditions unless the suspect is sought for murder or treason.
• Later, some members of the judiciary were pressured to ensure that Bushiri would be released on “soft” bail with less stringent conditions, however, of his bank accounts and assets, except for R5m’s property in Centurion;
• Both governments agreed to approve Chakwera’s request for a state visit and use it to smuggle Bushiri through Waterkloof Air Force Base;
• An advance team was then dispatched to South Africa to finalize logistical preparations for Bushiri’s escape;
• The Bushiris were brought home to Centurion in a Malawian embassy vehicle and issued false diplomatic passports and facial cosmetic changes applied;
• However, South African police, military and diplomatic officials in Waterkloof raised questions about three passengers – two men and one woman – whose names did not appear on Chakwera’s pre-approved passenger list;
• With rumors that the Bushiri did not report to the police station, the officers became suspicious as the height of two passengers resembled that of Bushiri and Mary;
• There was an uproar when the military police wanted to arrest the three passengers, but the Malawians sought the intervention of the Minister of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor;
• Pandor sent officials to resolve the issue and agreed that the three suspected passengers would be allowed to board Chakwera’s plane at OR Tambo; Chakwera’s plane stopped at OR Tambo, 25 km from Waterkloof, to pick up the advanced team that included the Bushiris;
• Bushiri and Mary, wearing facial cosmetics to disguise them, were brought to the scene through the diplomatic entrance; Three members of the advance team stayed behind to secure and dispose of Bushiri’s assets;
• The plane left South Africa shortly after 10 pm last Friday and landed in Malawi after midnight;
• The Malawian government ordered a media blackout at the airport before Chakwera arrived;
• The Bushiri disembarked from the plane immediately after Chakwera and his wife;
• Some journalists managed to capture images of the Bushiris landing; but Malawian intelligence later confiscated it and classified it as top secret;
• In South Africa, intelligence officials and some government officials pressured or misled journalists and editors to blame the country’s porous borders and corruption for Bushiri’s escape.

A senior source said: “Although the passports did not say Bushiri, he was using a decoy name. Their last names are not Bushiris but they do resemble Bushiris, with little cosmetic change here and there.

“A little bit on Bushiri’s face and also on the wife there were few cosmetic changes. Those cosmetic changes matched the profiles of those people in the passports. The fight began, the round trip, the minister of Dirco and by that time it was obvious to the common men and women in the application that no, no, it seems that there could be some contraband here.

“They searched and searched, baggage for baggage, but couldn’t find the baggage with Bushiri’s name on it. But there were people, with diplomatic passports, who looked like them. The face doesn’t match this one from Bushiri, but the height and eyes somehow look the same.

“But then the government decided that these suspicious people, whom military intelligence said should be detained to verify their good faith, should be released.

“Then the President and the Foreign Minister of Malawi started to pressure us, saying that you have never treated us this way, we feel that you are mistreating us. There is nothing sinister there. These are my people, they came here first. In OR Tambo they used the diplomatic entrance to go to the track. But even on that side, money changed hands. “

Another source said that Malawi’s intelligence plan involved bringing Bushiri’s children back to that country first to ensure they were not used as bait.

“The first conclusion was, let’s bring the children here. Children must be in Malawi before the operation begins. They were testing the waters with this operation so that if it failed they would smuggle it through Mozambique. They would give him his passport and he would cross from Mozambique to Malawi. The other option was to stay here and let the wife come home, you face the music and we would diplomatically intervene for a lesser penalty. But the guy refused and told the president no, he wants out. You don’t even want to be in jail here. The two weeks he spent there are hell, ”said the security group informant.

A military source said that members of the military were concerned about the government’s role in the matter because it sent the wrong message about the country.

“Everyone is surprised. The declaration is made by the Malawians, not by our foreign affairs. Why would a plane fly 25 km and land again, at such enormous costs? What was at stake? And why hasn’t the government sent a diplomatic protest note to Malawi? Why didn’t the NPA appeal Bushiri’s release on bail because it was obvious that he was at risk of flight? asked the source.

A diplomatic source said South Africans must come to terms with the fact that Bushiri will not return to face justice.

“The Malawians have decided to try Bushiri on that side. So there is no going back for Bushiri. Interpol cannot extradite him. They can only arrest Bushiri to make sure he appears in court in Malawi. “

This comes in the context of media reports in Malawi last week that Chakwera played a role in smuggling Bushiri and was protecting the fugitives.

This week, the Lilongwe Magistrates Court unconditionally released the Bushiris after ruling that the charges against them were illegal. They were surrendered after the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) issued an arrest warrant at the request of the South African government.

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