Self-proclaimed Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary have been making headlines since yesterday after he announced he escaped South Africa to Malawi for safety reason.
Bushiri and his wife violated their bail conditions by travelling outside Gauteng and North West.
Bushiri did not escape because of his fraud, theft and money laundering case that saw him imprisoned for two weeks before being released on R200,000 bail
Why did Bushiri escape from South Africa?
Savanna News has learnt that the Department of Home Affairs won the immigration case that resulted in the Pretoria High Court reversing the Magistrate court’s ruling that prohibited the Bushiris to make representations with regards to the way they acquired their permanent residence.
The Department of Home Affairs notified the Bushiri and his wife through a notice of their obligation to make representations within 30 days.
Their legal team opposed the move as they feared it could be used as a ground to deny their clients bail.
“If those representations are rejected, then Bushiri would see his PR [permanent residency] revoked. Now if the papers are revoked, they would be declared illegal immigrants in the country and then be arrested and kept in custody until their trial,” said one source.
The church leader’s lawyer Ntsako Baloyi, confirmed that the Home Affairs appeal hearing was heard in the Pretoria High Court on Friday.
Bushiri’s lawyers made a counter move and asked the court to allow their client to wait on responding to the Department of Home Affairs until his May 2021 trial on fraud, theft and money laundering charges.
The court agreed with Bushiri’s lawyers but the Department lodged an appeal and it was heard on Friday, 13 November 2020. Judgment has been reserved.
What happens if Bushiri’s representation is rejected?
If Bushiri is to lose this appeal and get his representation rejected, he will lose his citizenship and be forced to remain in jail without bail until his court appearance in May 2021.
Read More: Bushiri illegally ships Bentley and Maserati to Malawi
Bushiri speaks from Malawi, watch video below: