Bushiris Slam SA’s Extradition Case, Say Witness Relied on Hearsay

• Self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary are challenging South Africa's attempt to have them extradited from Malawi
• The fugitive couple accused the South African State's key witness of submitting hearsay evidence
• The Bushiris argued that the case should be thrown out by the Malawian High Court in Lilongwe

Self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary accused the South African State's key witness of submitting third-party evidence. The fugitive couple is fighting South Africa's attempt to have them extradited from Malawi.

What did the Bushiris say?

The couple is fighting a court order requesting them to return to South Africa after they fled the country in 2020. They were out on bail, resulting in their violating their bail conditions. The Bushiris submitted that the South African State's key witness submitted hearsay as evidence. The couple said that the evidence submitted was inadmissible in common law countries such as Malawi.

Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Advocate Sibongile Mzinyathi took the stand to testify against the two. In the High Court in Lilongwe, the Bushiris argued that Mzinyathi relied on investigators who also relied on the complainants' affidavits. They say this makes the evidence submitted third-hand.

The fugitive couple said that the South African State withdrew five investigators as witnesses who were fit to testify. They believe that Mzinyathi's evidence is inadmissible and that the extradition should be dismissed.

What did the fugitive couple do?

The Bushiris were arrested in South Africa for theft, money laundering, and fraud for more than R102 million. The Pretoria Magistrate’s Court labelled the couple as a flight risk, but they were still granted bail for R200 000. They were requested to hand in their passports and report to the police station daily.

The prophet later announced that they were going back to Malwai because they feared for their lives and requested protection from the South African government. This resulted in the Bushiris violating the bail conditions and led to the extradition request.

What you need to know about the Bushiris

• Malawi’s Magistrate’s Court ordered that Shepherd Bushiri and his wife be extradited to South Africa.
• Self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary have no intentions of returning to South Africa.
• The SA government has confirmed that they are working on the extraditions of Pastor Shepherd Bushiri and Atul and Rajesh Gupta.
• Shepherd Bushiri advised Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso to leave South Africa as soon as he can.
• Pastor Bushiri had tongues wagging all over social media over the Easter weekend following appearances by Floyd Shivambu and Rebecca Malope in his church.
• Dr Rebecca Malope has ignored Prophet Shepherd Bushuri, who shared a video of her performing in his church.

Shivambu defends decision to visit Bushiri

Briefly News previously reported that Floyd Shivambu will not apologise for visiting Shepherd Bushiri. The Secretary-General of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party visited the controversial pastor in Malawi over the Easter weekend, but the visit drew a lot of criticism.

Members of the MK Party and the justice and constitutional development ministry took issue with the visit, as Bushiri remains a fugitive.

Source: Briefly News