The Bushiris know SA’s price is ‘cool drink’

We cannot converse with ourselves as a nation or joke about the Bushiri saga without asking ourselves some pertinent questions.

We may throw some shade here and there about the naivety of his congregation and those who continued to believe in his innocence while he was mired in mountains of allegations through the years: accusations of money laundering, dubious behaviour for a man and woman of the cross, sexual misconduct… the list is endless. But what do we say to the justice system that let him continue for so many years?

So, a man and a woman (because I was recently accused of hating men) left their poverty-stricken country to find wealth in South Africa. With one hand on the Bible and the other in their followers’ pockets, millions were made – and advertised on social media platforms for all to see.

Eventually, they amassed enough wealth for opulent homes, a convoy of cars, butlers and two Gulfstream jets. South Africa become the land of milk and honey, because, as the state alleges, palms could be greased.

But how embarrassing is it that again greed and corruption have allowed such con artists to slip through our borders. And that their citizenship, confirmed as illegal, enabled them to make high-end purchases for so many years.

The Bushiris knew South Africans were, for the most part, for sale. When will we reflect on not just politicians, but also the ordinary people who for a “cool drink” can adjust their integrity? When will we say, when they speak of the corrupt, that they speak of my friend or family member?

Hundreds of clerks encountered the surname Bushiri in forms filed. Hundreds turned a blind eye to corruption. And they are our people. I hope the Bushiris are apprehended and held to account. But I also hope the South Africans who aided them on their crime sprees are rounded up, too.

Our country will remain an easy target for milking as long as such men and woman are not punished. Faith has been manipulated and we are the laughing stock of Africa because of “cool drink”!

Kekeletso Nakeli-Dhliwayo.

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