The South African government has rubbished prophet Bushiri’s assertions that the National Director of Public Prosecutions flew to Malawi to defend him and his wife Mary.
The government’s response comes after Bushiri made the assertion during his extradition case that was held in Malawi four days ago.
Among other things he claimed was that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had fabricated the evidence against him and his wife.
Department of Justice and Correctional Services spokesperson Chrispin Phiri told The Star that Bushiri’s claims were outrageous and out of touch with what the actual job and function of the Director of National Public Prosecution (NDPP) entails.
“Rubbish!! The NPA doesn’t defend people, it prosecutes them,” Phiri explained.
Bushiri’s lawyer has accused the NPA of doctoring documents adding that he had evidence of the original extradition documents.
However, NPA’s spokesperson Mthunzi Mhanga denounced the lawyer’s accusation as being further from the truth.
“All prosecutorial decisions are based on evidence and the NPA is guided by law, constitution and NPA policy in its prosecution process. Therefore, we deny fabricating evidence as the prosecuting authority,” Mhanga explained.
He further revealed that the NPA team was still in Malawi, but were expected to comeback in the country later on Thursday or Friday morning.
It’s not the first time the self-proclaimed prophet made “absurd” accusations against the South African government, in 2020 he claimed that there had been an attempt on his life and that the authorities did not offer him protection.
Furthermore, Bushiri skipped the country illegally, this was despite him saying he wanted to clear his name.
Through the extradition treaty, Bushiri was arrested by the Malawian counterpart and later released on bail.
Before he fled the country, the Prophet had been released on bail after he was charged with fraud and money laundering.
Many in the diplomatic community believed that the matter would create a diplomatic spat between Malawi and South Africa – as questions were being asked how Bushiri and his wife managed to leave.
Bushiri does not only face allegations of corruption, he was also accused of preying on poor people, desperate to improve their lives, by selling merchandise including “miracle oil”.
In 2018, Botswana shut down his church due to what they referred to as concerns over so-called “miracle money”.
Regardless of the extradition process, Bushiri revealed that the Malawian government was in his corner.
According to reports, flights to Malawi had increased this was communicated by the Tourism Ministry’s spokesperson.
“The national carrier, Malawi Airlines, has seen a 14% jump in passenger numbers since Bushiri relocated.”
Its spokesperson, Only Taulo, says it has “a very good business working relationship with the Bushiri ministry’s logistics teams”.
The Star
sipho.jack@inl.co.za