[ad_1]
Shepherd Bushiri appears in Pretoria Magistrates Court.
Frennie Shivambu, Gallo Images
- Shepherd Bushiri has reprimanded Home Secretary Aaron Motsoaledi for revoking his permanent residence permits.
- Bushiri says this proves that he will not get a fair trial in South Africa.
- Bushiri and his wife Mary violated the conditions of their bail and fled to Malawi last week.
Self-proclaimed prophet and now fugitive Shepherd Bushiri rebuked Interior Minister Aaron Motsoaledi on Wednesday for revoking his and his wife’s South African residence permits, among other things.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria issued arrest warrants for the Bushiris, who fled South Africa and went to their home country of Malawi last week.
The couple surrendered to police in Lilongwe, Malawi on Wednesday, Malawian media reported.
The Bushiri breached their bail conditions when they left under mysterious circumstances.
The church leader Enlighten Christian Gathering, his wife and three other people are accused of fraud involving around R102 million. The couple were out on bail of 200,000 rand each when it emerged that they had failed to appear for their registration Friday with the police, a requirement in terms of the bail conditions.
‘Troubled’ IDs
On Saturday, Bushiri said in a statement that they had fled because they believed their lives were in danger in South Africa and that they would not receive a fair trial.
In a new statement Wednesday, Bushiri reiterated this, lashing out at Motsoaledi for “one of the many injustices he feared would befall me and my wife.”
READ | Bushiris had 5 passports each and his permanent residence permit was irregular – Motsoaledi
This follows Motsoaledi’s revelation that Bushiri and his wife Mary each have five passports, all of them Malawian. Motsoaledi addressed the Internal Affairs Portfolio Committee on Tuesday.
Also, when the Hawks were investigating the Bushiris last year, they found “identity documents that were problematic,” Motsoaledi said. He added that their permanent residence permits had been issued irregularly.
“This internal process has already been prejudged by the minister before I present my statements on why our permits should not be revoked because we did nothing wrong,” Bushiri said.
There is no fair trial in SA
“The minister stated that my wife and I have five different passports each. The impression is that these are passports with different names and details. Again, this issue is before the High Court of South Africa. This statement by the minister further reinforces plus (sic) my fear that I won’t get a fair trial in South Africa. “
Bushiri said he and his wife had five passports each, including a diplomatic passport and a normal passport, and that they turned all the passports over to the investigating officer in South Africa.
“Because we are frequent travelers due to the work of our ministry, the other passports are full; however, they have international visas and therefore we keep them. There is nothing sinister about that. Even the Malawian immigration department has attested to that. In this sense, it would never be an understatement to conclude that from the fears of the injustices that I fear, the reason I came to Malawi, had just been confirmed by the Honorable Motsoaledi, MP. The whole world was watching and saw for themselves, “Bushiri said.
“I am innocent until proven guilty. As of now, there is no court in the world that has proven me guilty. I may be subjected to the media and public trial, but I maintain (sic) my innocence until my guilt is proven. ”
Ongoing extradition process
South Africa is in the process of extraditing the Bushiris, News24 previously reported. This was confirmed by government spokeswoman Phumla Williams on Sunday.
“To ensure that the two fugitives face justice, South Africa has initiated a process to secure their extradition from Malawi in terms of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Extradition Protocol and other legal instruments, of which Malawi is a signatory, “he said. said.
“While this process is underway, law enforcement agencies will continue investigations into this matter.”
