The Bushiris to spend another weekend in jail

Enlightened Christian Gathering Church (ECG) leader and self-proclaimed prophet, Shepherd Bushiri’s bail application has been postponed yet again.

The pastor, his wife Mary and three others returned to the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

The Bushiris, Landiwe Ntlokwana and William and Zethu Mudolo were arrested over a week ago.

They face charges of fraud, money laundering and contravention of the Prevention of Organised crime act to the value of R102 million.

The state has asked for more time to prepare its response to the defence, which will happen on Monday.

In the video below, Shepherd Bushiri and his wife appear in court:

The accused had hoped their matter would be finalised on Friday, but time was not on their side.

The state is opposing bail. It believes there is a likelihood that the accused will evade trial should they be released.

However, the Bushiris argue the state’s charges are vague as they can’t say how the accused committed the alleged crimes and who the victims are.

The Bushiris also say they handed over their passports in early 2019 when they were arrested for a different matter and they’ve never attempted to skip the country.

Meanwhile, scores of Bushiri followers continued chanting in support of their leader outside court.

The Bushiris’ bail hearing to resume on Monday: