Shepherd Bushiri Ordered to Face Extradition to SA, Locals Welcome Ruling
- Fugitive self-styled prophet Shepherd Bushiri is facing extradition committal proceedings back to South Africa
- Bushiri and his wife, Mary, were fingered in a fraud and money laundering scheme before skipping the country
- Curious observers had plenty to say on social media, with mounting support over the decision to proceed with extradition
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TSHWANE - Self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri is fixing to face extradition if the Malawi High Court's decision to order a local magistrate's court to continue with committal proceedings against him is anything to go by.
Bushiri and his wife Mary are sought by South African authorities for their alleged involvement in fraud and money laundering activities totalling R102 million. The couple reportedly up and left the country's shores in November last year after the Pretoria Central Magistrate's Court decided to grant them bail.
Source: Getty Images
The Malawi high court's decision to order the resident magistrate's court to move forward with proceedings on Tuesday follows arguments about the feasibility of South African witnesses appearing in court in person to testify at the hearings that take place before trial, according to News24.
High court justice Redson Kapindu cited it was up to the court whether remote proceedings should be allowed where there are sufficient grounds, TimesLIVE reported. Further, Kapindu reasoned that due to Covid-19, virtual hearings posed risks but stressed the court has control regarding virtual testimony.
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"The law, in most cases, requires physical presence. However, that is not a steadfast rule as discretion can be exercised for testimony to be given virtually. There is also the option of a capable South African court hearing the testimony and submitting it to Malawi," said Kapindu.
Briefly News previously reported that Bushiri claimed he was poisoned while he was kept in custody before fleeing to Malwai. According to IOL, the couple's bid to have the Gauteng High Court judgement to repay a R203 million loan overturned had failed.
At the time, Bushiri's spokesperson Ephraim Nyondo said the self-styled preacher would only come back to SA if he is not poisoned, alleging he'd been poisoned while in custody.
Calls for extradition to SA
Social media was a bustling hive of activity as South Africans had a say on the latest development surrounding Bushiri. The consensus called for the so-called prophet and his wife to be returned to face their charges in South Africa.
@Paul Classen wrote:
"He must come back that boy. He took a lot of money from our fellow spiritually stupid South Africans."
@Hardworking King Macuacua In said:
"Malawian government will not allow him to do what he was doing with South African people. I saw that coming."
@Doug Mav added:
"If this whole gospel thing was real he shouldn’t have doubted his God’s ability to protect them if they believed they were innocent."
'Please Call Me' inventor to bag more than R47m
Elsewhere, Briefly News recently reported that a long-drawn court battle between mobile network communications company Vodacom and the originator of its "Please Call Me" micro-text service Nkosana Makate has concluded, for now.
A landmark ruling in the Gauteng High Court in Tshwane on Tuesday determined that Makate qualifies to get five per cent of the total voice revenue yielded by the service in the time from March 2001 to March 2021.
According to information available in the public domain, the service launched in February 2001, with Makate as its brainchild.
Source: Briefly News
