During proceedings in Lilongwe court today, South African witness Sibongile Mzinyathi, also the Director of Public Prosecution for Gauteng Province, asserted that Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary did not personally benefit from the alleged theft of R106 million from church members in South Africa.
Wapona Kita, the legal representative for the Bushiris, continued cross-examining Mzinyathi during the session. Mzinyathi informed the court that in 2023, the South African government commissioned KPMG to audit the accounts, and no evidence was found indicating that the money had been deposited into the Bushiris’ accounts.
Bushiri and his wife fled South Africa in 2020 and are wanted for various charges, including forgery, rape, theft, money laundering, racketeering, and immigration violations.
However, Kita argued in court today that, according to Malawian law, only three of the charges against the Bushiris – forgery, rape, and theft – are subject to extradition. He contended that the evidence presented did not meet the criteria for their extradition.
Meanwhile, Bushiri released a video on Facebook expressing his optimism about the court proceedings, claiming that he and his wife were wrongly accused of stealing money from South Africans. According to Bushiri, a company called Rising Estate Limited was responsible for taking the R106 million from church members, and the Bushiris themselves took R90 million to compensate the victims, hoping to recover their funds from Rising.
Bushiri stated, “What is happening in court is the hand of God working. At the end of this case, the world will know there is God in heaven who vindicates his children.”
