'He's innocent, a man of God': Bushiri supporters pray before court

04 November 2020 - 10:20 By shonisani tshikalange
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Supporters gathered in numbers outside the Pretoria magistrate's court.
Supporters gathered in numbers outside the Pretoria magistrate's court.
Image: Emile Bosch/TimesLIVE

Self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri's supporters dropped to their knees, singing and praying before his appearance in the Pretoria magistrate's court on Wednesday.

The Enlightened Christian Gathering Church’s (ECGC) leader and his wife Mary are expected to learn whether they will be released on bail.

The couple and three co-accused face fraud and money laundering charges related to an investment scheme valued at about R102m.

Police erected wire fencing to maintain order on the street outside court as people sang in Zulu, “bring our parents”.

One supporter stood outside court, preaching passionately to the crowd.

Hundreds of pastor Shepherd Bushiri supporters turned up at the Pretoria magistrate's court to support their leader. Bushiri and his wife, Mary Bushiri have been charged with fraud, theft and money laundering.

Alex Chikakuda said he was there to stand with the “man of God”.

“I am a foreigner in this land, I have faced a lot of challenges but since I discovered the prophet in Pretoria, I started attending the church. I started to experience change. Things just started to happen, in terms of getting a job. This just started changing drastically,” he said.

The 29-year-old believed the Bushiris would get bail.

“I think he is innocent, he is a man of God. It's just that he preaches the word of God and he has the other part of business. These are the things which are about the business side of his life, not the spiritual side.”


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Chikakuda said some of the things said about Bushiri were due to jealousy. “I feel like some of the things is jealousy because he is a foreigner. Here he came and conquered the land,” he said.

This is a developing story.

TimesLIVE


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