Pandor says report that she assisted in Bushiri escape a ‘total lie’

Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor, says her department has no update on the Bushiris’ extradition process from Malawi.

Pandor previously dismissed claims that self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary were smuggled out of the country through a collaboration between Malawi and South African officials, in an article published by Sunday Independent.

Earlier this month, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola, revealed that the South African government had submitted an extradition request for the couple, under the Southern African Development Community (SADC) protocol.

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Meanwhile, addressing the media on Monday morning about the international relations department’s work this year, Pandor touched on her department’s alleged involvement in the matter.

“On the matter of Mr Bushiri, I do not have any updates. The extradition matters are dealt with by the Department of Justice and we would of course assist them with transporting any documentation or request to the Malawian government.

“Suffice to say, the statement in the Sunday Independent three weeks ago that I assisted in the escape of Mr Bushiri is a total lie and I deny it with the contempt it deserves,” she said.

The minister revealed that one of the challenges that her department faced was the repatriation of citizens, who found themselves stranded outside of South Africa due to lockdowns that were implemented by many countries.

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“From the time the president announced South Africa’s level 5 lockdown on the 15 March 2020 to the time when international travel was again allowed under level 1, my department, through our consular services managed to repatriate just over 30,000 South Africans who were stranded from all corners of the world, using over 350 flights.

“The number excludes tens of thousands who used our land borders were involved in this process. I know many spent sleepless nights, working seven days a week trying to bring our fellow citizens back to their loved ones,” she said.

She further confirmed that the African Union (AU) had developed a vaccine strategy for the continent by establishing a Covid-19 African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT), which will ensure that Africans had access to the vaccine.

“Despite the progress made in cooperation and with many countries experiencing a second wave of the pandemic, global attention is shifting to access to vaccines and their approval for use. There are fears that the richer countries may hoard vaccine stocks and use intellectual property rights to block access of vaccines to developing countries.

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“However, the AU Commission and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention are seeking ways of ensuring all countries have access to the lifesaving vaccines.

“Defeating this virus still requires countries to collaborate with each other and to work with multilateral institutions to ensure that all people access the required health and medical interventions and that they benefit from economic and social measures required for a sustained response to the pandemic. We also continue Africa’s focus on the post Covid-19 economic recovery,” she said.

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