The South African government has thrown its first salvo at the Malawi-born evangelists Shepherd and Mary Bushiri, who jumped bail last week, by confiscating the couples’ upmarket US$366,000 home in Pretoria on Thursday.
The couple, who were expected to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate Court on Thursday, were called out three times by the court but there was no response from them as they were in Malawi under police custody following their flight from South African justice.
Due to this failure to attend the court, the state had no choice but to grab their real estate property – perhaps the first of many properties to be forfeited by the Bushiris in accordance with their bail conditions.
The rich couple are leaders of the Pretoria-based Enlightened Christian Congregation (ECG) church, and were arrested two weeks ago by the South African police who took them to court where they were charged with fraud, theft and money laundering worth $7.0 million.
The church leaders won their freedom after two-week court battle, and after posting $13,000 bail each.
Days after leaving custody, the young couple crossed the border to return home, where they held a press conference to inform the world that they fled South Africa because their lives were in danger due to death threats.
A day after the presser, a senior member of the ECG church in Cape Town, Prophet Chirwa, was gunned down in the streets of the Mother City.
While the Bushiris have not used Chirwa’s killing to press home their grievances, they said they were willing to return to the Pretoria court for hearings of the charges, which they deny, but only after the South African government guaranteed them a free and fair trial.
Meanwhile, several human rights NGOs under the Malawi Black Economic Empowerment Movement (MaBlem), have held a press conference in the capital Lilongwe to blast the Malawi police for being overzealous in arresting the Bushiris.
MaBlem leader Robert Mkwezalamba said the police should follow the country’s laws in processing South Africa’s Interpol-issued arrest warrants for the fugitives.
Mkwezalamba said he noted there was a toxic atmosphere in South Africa against the evangelists, with politicians and other prominent people making negative comments on a case which was still in court.
Getting a free and fair trial was very much in doubt, he said.
He added: “The allegations of death threats on Bushiri’s life must not be taken lightly, especially in a country which has got one of the highest crime rates in the world”
“We strongly believe there cannot be a fair trial of Bushiri in his absence (if killed). We need him alive to answer the charges and to have justice to be seen to be served,” Mkwezalamba said.
Reports from Malawi said that the Bushiris will appear in court on Thursday afternoon following their arrests on Wednesday.
NM/as/APA