Self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary will spend two more nights in police cells. This as their bail application was postponed for further argument.
Bushiri, his wife and a third suspect, Landiwe Ntlokwana,
appeared at the Pretoria specialised commercial crimes court on Wednesday on
charges of money laundering, theft and fraud.
Ntlokwana is a member of Bushiri's Enlightened Christian
Gathering church.
Bushiri handed himself over to the Hawks on Tuesday, while
his wife Mary was arrested at their home earlier that day. The Hawks said
Bushiri initially tried to “evade” its officers and then handed himself over in
the presence of an “entourage of attorneys”.
Hawks spokesperson Col Katlego Mogale said four people,
including another couple, were arrested for their alleged involvement in fraud
and money laundering worth R102m.
On Wednesday, the state opposed Bushiri, his wife, and
Ntlokwana’s bail bid, arguing that the case was at an advanced stage. It noted
the home affairs department’s notice withdrawing Bushiri and his wife’s
permanent residence permits.
According to court papers submitted to the Pretoria high
court, where Bushiri filed an application challenging home affairs’ withdrawal
notice, the couple’s permits were withdrawn because they were issued in
“error”.
In this application, the Pretoria high court on Wednesday
ruled that the home affairs notice be suspended until Bushiri and his wife
pleaded to the money laundering charge.
“The applicant and his wife shall, once their plea to the
charges has been noted in case number CC14/2020, be afforded a period of 30
days from date of the plea, within which to make any formal representations (if
they so wish or are advised to do so) as envisaged in the notice date 2 August
2020,” the court ruled.
An army of men wearing black suits, and others in
camouflage regalia with a “Major 1 troop” inscription, lined up in front of the
court building. One of the supporters, Lethiwe Ndlovu, said she woke up at 5am
to support “father” Bushiri.
“My father has never done anything wrong that is why every
time we will always stand with him. I support my father all the time, he has
never done anything to anyone, I love him so much, if you touch him it's like
you have touched me,” she said.
Another supporter, who didn't want to be named, said she
was there to support Bushiri because of the positive affect he had on her life.
“I am here to support my spiritual father and mother. In
the past five years since I have been under their mentorship, they have
affected my life positively, in every way; academically, spiritually, so I am
here to stand with them. At the moment I don't have information about the case
but I’m here to say let justice prevail,” she said.
In a statement released by the church after court
proceedings, Bushiri said he was disappointed that the bail application was
postponed. “We are unhappy about what we feel is a weaponisation of the
criminal justice system,” the statement read.
The bail application in the fraud and money laundering case
was postponed to Friday for the state to reply to the defence’s argument. The
court ordered that the trio remain in custody pending Friday’s proceedings.
It did not accede to the defence’s request that the
applicants be kept at the same police station they were detained at on Tuesday,
saying that it was a decision which was in the hands of the police. Sowetan
0 comments:
Post a Comment