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“Our arrival in Malawi, therefore, is a tactical withdrawal by the Republic of South Africa with the sole objective of preserving our lives,” he said. His spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The Bushiri had been released on bail this month after a hearing in which supporters chanted and prayed outside the courtroom. The bail conditions included staying in Gauteng, the province that includes Johannesburg, where they live, and handing over five passports that they each hold, according to Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa’s minister of internal affairs, speaking in Parliament on Tuesday.
Still, without a single passport in his possession, Bushiri showed up in his home country of Malawi last weekend, and from there launched an online tirade against South African officials.
The Bushiri affair has now reached the highest levels of government in both countries. On Tuesday, lawmakers in the South African parliament questioned Motsoaledi, the interior minister, about the lapses – or, as one suggested, complicity – that had allowed the flamboyant pastor to flee, saying the mistake exposed flaws in the National security. .
In Malawi, members of the government were angry that South African officials appeared to suspect that Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera’s entourage had been trying to smuggle the pastor out of South Africa last weekend on a plane belonging to the president’s entourage. The Malawi government issued a statement complaining that the presidential entourage was held for hours at the South African airport.
On Wednesday, Bushiri and his wife surrendered to a police station in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. A police statement, referring to Mr. Bushiri as “the Prophet”, said that the pastor and his wife would be interviewed and then face “a competent court of law in accordance with the prescriptions of the law.” After detaining the Bushiris for one night, authorities released the couple on bail, without requiring them to post bail.
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