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By Mayibongwe Maqhina 
7h ago
Cape Town – Where there is hope, there is a way. This proverb came to mind Thursday when Justice Minister Ronald Lamola answered questions during a post-cabinet briefing.
Lamola insisted that the self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary would be returned to the country for trial.
“The South African government is going to do everything in its power to ensure that they are returned to this country to face trial,” he said.
His statement was made after events unfolded, including the mysterious Bushiris escape, law enforcement agencies requested his arrest warrants and approached Interpol, as well as Internal Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, who was brought before Parliament to account for how they were granted permanent residence permits.
Motsoaledi found himself having to explain not only his acquisition of permanent residence status, but also the delay in Malawi’s presidential plane to fly out of the country last Friday and his possession of five passports. .
Reporting to the home affairs portfolio committee on Tuesday, Motsoaledi said the genesis of the saga somehow began a year ago when the Hawks investigated the Bushiris for fraud and money laundering.
He said the department had discovered that the permanent residence permits issued to the Bushiris in 2016 were irregular and that it had served the Bushiris with a notice asking them to explain why their documents should not be revoked.
This was at a time when they were already charged, but sought legal help.
“The Bushiri went to court and asked the court to stop Internal Affairs from asking them questions because they have a criminal case to answer in court,” Motsoaledi said.
He said the court ruled in favor of Bushiri to the dismay of the department, which issued a warrant to appeal.
The appeal was heard in court the day before Bushiri announced through social media that he had left the country.
This was the same day that there was drama over the departure of the plane carrying the delegation of the President of Malawi, Lazarus Chekwera.
Motsoaledi also told MPs that he had told the court that the Bushiri were a flight risk. This is because the couple had five passports issued by the Malawi government.
“It is common, of course, that we are experiencing porous borders in this country,” he said.
In briefing the media on Thursday, Lamola said the cabinet was briefed on the Bushiris issue.
“The Cabinet was satisfied with the way the justice, crime prevention and security group has handled the matter and the group will inform the public about developments related to this matter,” he said.
Lamola also said that the extradition process has been initiated by the government and all the law enforcement agencies that were responsible.
At that time, the country had obtained an arrest warrant and a red notice had been sent to Interpol and Lilongwe.
Lamola said the provisional arrest of the Bushiri had been carried out.
“This request has been made in terms of article 10 of the SADC protocol that requires the requesting State to present to the authorities within 30 days of the arrest of the fugitive a formal request for extradition,” he said.
The minister had said that the NPA and the Hawks were compiling the extradition documents and were given two weeks to do so.
“It may take some time, but our opinion and the information at our disposal is that we are convinced that the Bushiris will return to South Africa to be tried. They are guaranteed a fair trial.”
Lamola also said he understood the urgency of the matter amid much speculation.
Although the Bushiris were provisionally arrested on Wednesday, they were released the next day because they lost their bail of R200,000 and their properties in Centurion when they did not report to the police and left the country.
This happened despite Lamola being optimistic that they had no doubts that the extradition process would be carried out fairly.
“We will continue to finalize the extradition documents that we intend to send within the next two weeks, not 30 days as prescribed by SADC protocol,” Lamola said.
Yet the country has seen courts involved in protracted cases in which fugitives from the law fight extradition attempts from their own country or from other countries.
With Bushiri quoted as saying he had no confidence in a fair trial and feared for his safety in the country, it is likely that he fought tooth and nail against any extradition proceedings to bring him to South Africa.
Political Bureau
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