Enlightened Christian Gathering Church leader Pastor Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary have fled South Africa and have traveled back to Malawi.
The pair released a statement on Saturday citing safety concerns and unfair court proceedings as reasons for leaving the country.
Bushiri and his wife were out on R200 000 bail while their co-accused Landiwe Ntlokwana was given R100 000 bail and Zethu Mudolo R20 000.
The couple, along with co-accused were expected to be back in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Friday when another accused Willah Mudolo is expected to apply for bail.
The accused were arrested two weeks ago and are facing charges of fraud, money laundering and contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act to the value of R102 million.
One of his lawyers has confirmed that Bushiri is indeed in Malawi but has refused to go on record, saying he is waiting on his client to instruct him to do so.
#ECG attorney Terrence Baloyi has confirmed that the #Bushiri couple have skipped the country, apparently the Bushiris are fearing for their lives in South Africa.#sabcnews
— Ofentse Setimo?? (@Stimoroller) November 14, 2020
Below is the statement released by Bushiri
