‘Prophet’ Bushiri’s bail application to be heard later this week

On Monday morning, a noticeably smaller group of Enlightened Christian Gathering supporters gathered outside the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court where Malawian self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri, his wife and three others again appeared for their formal bail application.

Shepherd Bushiri, his wife Mary, Landiwe Ntlokwana, and Accused 1 and 2 who may not be named, were arrested in October on charges of theft, money laundering and fraud.

Magistrate Thandi Thelede heard the State’s arguments on Monday morning on why the five accused should not be granted bail.

On 2 November, the State again argued that the suspects were a flight risk, due to the possession of multiple passports and some of the suspects not being South African citizens.

Accused 1 legal representative, Thabang Mathopo, asked the court to grant his client bail because her baby needed to be breastfed and her being in custody was against the interest of the child.

“Should she sit and extract the breast milk in the Kgosi Mampuru prison?” Mathopo asked.

Advocate Annelene van der Heever – who is representing Bushiri, his wife and Ntlokwana – again argued that her clients were not flight risks, and said if they wanted to flee, they would have done so when they were arrested in February 2019.

The State said that Ntlokwana had not handed in her current and expired passports.

The bail hearing has rolled over to 4 November, where Magistrate Thelede is expected to hand down her judgment on the bail application.

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