The Enlightened Christian Gathering Church Pastor Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary as well as their co-accused Landiwe Ntlokwana have spent a second night in jail after the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court postponed their bail application for Friday.
The three appeared in court on Wednesday. The state asked for the postponement of the case as they had to verify some information.
They are charged with fraud amounting to R102 million, money laundering and the contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
The group is facing the same charges as Willah Mudolo and Zethu Mudolo, who have already appeared in the same court and will apply for bail on October 30, 2020.
Church spokesperson Terrence Baloyi says, “The intention is clearly not to seek justice. The intention is clearly not to make sure that justice prevails at the end of the day. We can assure you the prophet and prophetess are innocent creatures of God. Whatever they are charged with are charges that are baseless and cannot stand any test of any court proceedings. I can assure you we feel this is nothing but a personal vendetta.”
Bushiri followers gathered at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court and waited hours in the sun in support of their Pastor:
The defence’s argument
Defence Advocate, Annelene van den Heever, said the police had more than a year to finalise their investigation and said they expected them to have verified all their information at that time.
She told the court there was no need for a postponement as Bushiri and his wife were respectively already on R100 000 bail in another case. She said they knew about the investigation against them and still did not try to evade the police.
Van den Heever said all three accused have strong family ties in South Africa and emphasised that the Bushiri couple has permanent residency in the country.
Latest allegations
The NPA has not released details of the latest allegations against Bushiri, but it is believed the charges relate to an investment scheme in which Bushiri told congregants they could earn a 50% profit within 30 days if they joined a “commodity investment opportunity”, with the minimum investment starting at R100 000.
Magistrate Thandi Theledi will rule on the state’s application for the postponement on Friday.
Depending on her ruling, the formal bail application will be heard or be postponed to another date.
The video below is reporting on Bushiri’s July court appearance:
