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The couple were released on bail after being arrested for their alleged involvement in fraud and money laundering worth more than 100 million rand.
FILE: Pastor Shepherd Bushiri (R), also known as the Prophet Bushiri of the Christian Enlightened Gathering (ECG), stands on stage as his wife, Mary Bushiri, speaks to the faithful during the Crossing of United Prayers at FNB Stadium in Soweto on January 1, 2020. Image: AFP
JOHANNESBURG – Home Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said Eyewitness news that he was extremely angry and deeply concerned about the fugitives Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary, who had fled the country because they suspected something like this would happen.
The couple were released on bail after being arrested for their alleged involvement in fraud and money laundering worth more than 100 million rand. The Pretoria Magistrates Court granted bail to the Bushiris, convinced that there was no risk of flight.
The Hawks confirmed that they did not inform authorities according to the conditions of their bond.
The government has now started a process to extradite them from Malawi.
“We knew he was a flight risk, so I say I am very angry. Personally I think he should not have been granted bail. The judiciary is independent but I am angry, I must tell him.”
Motsoaledi and the rest of the government are still puzzled about how the Bushiris managed to get out of South Africa.
The minister admitted that he was not surprised that the Bushiris left the country.
He said the couple did not have authentic Internal Affairs documents and that officials tried to warn the court before they were released on bail.
“In Internal Affairs we gave them evidence to show them that this man’s documents are all false.”
“They weren’t trustworthy and once you have an unreliable person, why do you think they will obey the rules because they have never obeyed them? He has never obeyed any laws in South Africa as far as we are concerned. “
Motsoaledi said there was a lesson for the entire government to learn now that the Bushiri had fled the country.
ILLEGAL CROSSING?
The Department of Internal Affairs said it has not registered Bushiri or his wife crossing the South African border and has not been able to explain exactly how the two fugitives left the country in defiance of their bail conditions.
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said that without any record of Bushiris leaving the country, the only explanation was that they crossed the border illegally.
• Nthakoana Ngatane: Why the Bushiris may never return to South Africa
“If he crossed, he crossed completely illegally. You know I can’t hide the fact that we are fighting to build a structure to manage the borders because they are so porous.”
However, Bushiri insists that he is legally in South Africa.
Bushiri believes the charges against him are false and fears for his safety.
Bushiri told supporters that he would surrender to law enforcement in Malawi on Monday.
He claims that he is not fleeing prosecution.
“I have also instructed my lawyers that on Monday they must make an urgent request in the courts of South Africa for my bond not to be revoked because I have only come here to seek the intervention of the Government of Malawi to consider these issues as they will lead to a fair trial. “
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