THE hearing into the South African government’s extradition request for Enlightened Christian Gathering Church leader, self-proclaimed Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary, will resume on Wednesday, 13 March, in the Lilongwe Magistrates Court in Malawi.
On Tuesday afternoon, 12 March, the Bushiris’ lawyer, Wapona Kita, continued cross-examining the state witness, Sibongile Mnzinyathi, the Director of Public Prosecutions in Gauteng.
Kita questioned Mnzinyathi on the charges that Mzansi wanted to extradite the Bushiris.
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He asked if they were covered in the country’s Extradition Act.
According to the lawyer, out of the 13 charges against the Bushiris, only three fall under Section 5 of Malawi's Extradition Act.
The three are forgery, rape and stealing, whereas the offences which the Bushiri's, are accused of in Mzansi but are not listed in the extradition schedule are money laundering, racketeering, failing to comply with bail conditions, failing to comply with requirements of Immigration Act and contravening Immigration Act.
Kita argued that there is also no relevance per Section 5 of the Extraction Act of Malawi, that the three offences constitute an offence in both countries and, therefore, automatically fall off.
