Why Shepherd Bushiri and his wife will stay in jail until Friday

The R100 million fraud case against Shepherd Bushiri has been pushed back 24 hours, after deliberations and doubt dominated the first day of the pastor’s bail hearing on Wednesday. His wife Mary has also been detained, and both remained in jail following the conclusion of legal proceedings yesterday.

Why is Shepherd Bushiri in jail until Friday?

However, things perhaps won’t be moving as swiftly as the Bushiri camp would hope. The case will now only be heard on Friday, meaning that the Bushiris will spend an extra night behind bars, before learning their fate ahead of the weekend. The following factors have contributed to their extended stay in prison:

• According to the Pretoria Magistrate Court, the state was ‘not ready to proceed’ with a formal bail application
• That’s because they had trouble ‘establishing some details’, which needed to be verified before the application could go ahead. 
• The state needed to confirm the couple’s address, as their residence is up for sale – and their residency documentation is ‘due to expire’.

Church rallies against state ‘delays’

The Enlightened Christian Gathering Church has issued a statement on the matter via Shepherd Bushiri’s official Facebook page. The church, created by the self-proclaimed ‘prophet’, argues that ‘justice delayed is justice denied’:

“Our lawyers vehemently opposed the State’s stance to the effect that they demonstrated their readiness by submitting bail applications affidavit. The Magistrate will rule on the postponement on Friday and possibly the bail hearing.”

“We are unhappy about what we feel is a weaponisation of the criminal justice system. The state reserves the right to arrest and prosecute but surely they cannot always arrest and then claim they are not ready to proceed.”

“Prophet Bushiri and Prophetess Mary Bushiri have always stood by their innocence and are resolute in their stance that they are innocent. It’s our wish that the state proceeds with their cases without delay so that the truth comes out. We call on the church to continue praying for our leaders and be assured that they are in great spirit.”

The Enlightened Christian Gathering Church