Prophet Bushiri and wife flee to Malawi

The Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church leader, Prophet Bushiri and his wife confirmed on Saturday 14 November 2020 that they have left South Africa and have returned to Malawi.

This despite surrendering their travelling documents to authorities when they were granted bail by the Pretoria Magistrate Court earlier this month. Bushiri and his wife Mary were each granted bail of R200 000.

Prophet Bushiri “wanted to inform the general public” that they are temporarily in Malawi due to the “safety and security issues that got worse when we just got out on bail”.

“There have been clear and evident attempts to have myself, my wife and my family killed and despite our several attempts to report to authorities, there has never been State protection”.

The ‘prophet’ added that going to Malawi was a “tactical withdrawal from the Republic of South Africa solely meant to preserve [their] lives”. Bushiri still “strongly believes” in their innocence.

He went on to give an account of their “legal issues” starting with the arrest in 2019 for “alleged money laundering charges” and said the State “is not ready to give [a trail]” two years later.

“We have to be alive to testify to our innocence. […] As we keep waiting for that trial to come, we were arrested again, kept in custody for over two weeks and we are not sure if we will face trial.”

Bushiri, his wife Mary, and three other individuals were part of a R100 million fraud and money laundering case and were arrested by the Hawks back in October 2020.

This is a developing story, more to follow.