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By Goitsemang Tlhabye 
12h ago
Pretoria – Magistrate Thandi Theledi said she did not want to be held responsible for an outbreak of Covid-19 infections in the city by allowing members of the Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church to wait outside only for a possible bond hearing.
The five defendants Willah Mudolo, Zethu Mudolo, the prophet Shepherd Bushiri, his wife Mary and Landiwe Sindani appeared together for the first time since their arrests.
Theledi was speaking as she postponed the matter again until the end of the week due to time constraints.
Hundreds of church members had gathered outside of court again yesterday to await a small opening in the court list to allow Bushiri, his wife Mary and Sindani to continue their bail requests.
Members of the church, as in other court appearances, could be seen outside in large numbers without adhering to physical distancing, some without masks, dancing, singing and praying for the deliverance of their “spiritual parents” throughout Francis Baard Street.
Theledi suggested that the bail request for the five defendants in the matter be heard on Friday so that they have enough time to discuss their requests.
The reason was that he already had a full court list to deal with for the rest of the week.
Annalien van den Heever, the legal defense for Bushiri, his wife and Sindani, however, indicated that they would be willing to wait for any opening that might occur.
The five defendants briefly appeared in court, where the first defendant, Willah Mudolo, indicated that he would apply for bail on Friday, while his wife Zethu Mudolo would begin his application.
Mudolo said she wanted bail because she was still breastfeeding her 9-month-old daughter and had left another 4-year-old daughter at home with her elderly mother.
His defense also indicated that his health was at risk because he had anemia and had not been able to take his medication since his arrest on October 17.
And even though the two children were with their 63-year-old mother, her defense indicated that she was also not in good health as she was battling high blood pressure and could not cope alone.
The court was unable to proceed with the rest of the bail requests due to time constraints, and despite Van den Heever indicating that the trio he represented would be willing to appear in court again today, Theledi refused.
She said that while she understood the need for bail, she was unwilling to step aside and see people gathering in large numbers outside of court all day, without adhering to any of the Covid-19 security guidelines.
“I can’t have people sitting outside all day, not adhering to social distancing because the next thing you know is that we will have an outbreak of the virus. He’s still with us, so we have to be safe. “
All of the defendants will return to court on Friday to proceed with their respective bail requests.
Pretoria News
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