Shepherd Bushiri blew into SA by releasing a video purporting to show him walking on air, then luring congregants to his Pretoria church with claims that he can cure ailments and illnesses, including HIV, and promises that he can make them rich.
His own wealth grew rapidly, with interests in property including hotels and mining operations through his Sandton-based investment company.
Bushiri's public profile has also grown due to his feud with a fellow charismatic pastor, Paseka "Mboro" Motsoeneng, which is ongoing despite Bushiri giving Mboro R1m as a gift a few years ago. Mboro retorted he didn't need the money and would donate it to charity.
Across Africa, followers of the self-proclaimed prophet remain resolute in their faith in “Major One”, despite the mounting criminal charges against him, and believe the challenges he is facing will “come to pass”.
It emerged at the weekend that Bushiri and his wife Mary had fled to Malawi. This comes after they were granted bail of R200,000 each by the Pretoria magistrate's court on November 4. They were arrested in October for their alleged involvement in fraud and money laundering worth R102m.
Their bail was granted with strict conditions, including that they were barred from travelling outside the country.
Bushiri and his wife were also ordered to hand over the title deed of their Centurion house worth more than R5m.
The court ruled that should they abscond, the property would be forfeited to the state.
The couple were further ordered not to make any comments during their church services or teachings about witnesses, the prosecution team and others involved in the case.
Evolution of his church
Bushiri, born in Lilongwe on February 20 1983, registered the Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church in SA in 2015.
He had started the church in his home country, Malawi, in 2010.
“Prophet Shepherd Bushiri registered ECG church in 2010 in the city of Mzuzu in northern Malawi. This was after he had, for years, been going to different places across Malawi preaching [the gospel of] Jesus Christ in secondary schools, colleges and villages,” his spokesperson Ephraim Nyondo told Sunday Times Daily.
Bushiri’s first church, Nyondo said, had about 8,000 followers.
“The church grew exponentially and in 2012 he moved to Lilongwe. He built another church there and it is there until today. By 2015, ECG had branches in about 10 of Malawi’s 28 districts.
“Today, the church has branches in every district with not less than 300,000 registered members,” said Nyondo.
According to Nyondo, ECG now operates in 47 countries across six continents.
Multiple legal woes
Bushiri and Mary, with whom he has two daughters, were scheduled to go on trial on May 31 and June 18 next year for fraud, money laundering and contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca).
Last year, the Sunday Times reported several congregants alleged they had been duped into handing over money in a get-rich-quick scheme facilitated by the ECG church leader. Those who invested R200,000 were promised R11.5m after six months. Those who invested R1m were promised R57.6m in six months. They did not receive the promised returns.
No stranger to controversy, Bushiri was also publicly accused of rape by at least two female congregants, who appeared on e.tv in August.
The “prophet” addressed his congregation virtually and dismissed the allegations as an attempt to tarnish his reputation and extort money from his family and his church. He further claimed a “syndicate” of men and women later “confessed” they were working with investigating officers to solicit money from the church, dating back to 2017.
On Monday, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) said Bushiri had failed to provide the directorate with crucial details about police corruption allegations.
In 2019 Bushiri was hauled before the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CLR) to explain how three women were killed in a stampede at his church. The incident happened in December 2018. Bushiri claimed the stampede was as a result of people pushing through the door of a hall during a heavy storm.
SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) representatives, who also appeared before the commission, called for the church to be closed and for Bushiri to go back to Malawi.
In its report, the CRL Commission recommended that the church find a suitable venue to accommodate its congregrants. It rejected Sanco's call as unwarranted and "against the spirit and letter of the right to freedom of religion in terms of the constitution".
Passports & visas
During Bushiri and his co-accused’s protracted bail application in October and November, it emerged that he and his wife entered SA illegally. The court was told Bushiri and Mary also had multiple passports, including diplomatic passports.
Clayson Monyela, spokesperson for the department of international relations and cooperation (Dirco), said the Bushiris received the diplomatic passports from their home country, Malawi.
He said Dirco had not issued diplomatic passports to any religious leader in SA.
“Bushiri was issued with a diplomatic passport in Malawi. We don’t know under which circumstances he was issued with such. In SA we have not issued a diplomatic passport to any religious leaders,” Monyela said.
Home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi said in a radio interview that Bushiri and his wife had entered the country in 2009. They were issued with visitors’ visas which had a time frame. However, while on the visitors’ visa, Bushiri registered companies and started conducting certain businesses. According to Motsoaledi, the visitors’ visa did not allow him to start businesses in the country.
“In 2012, Mary Bushiri entered SA through OR International Airport using a passport. She then produced a fraudulent permanent residence permit which was issued in 1997. If you come to SA for the first time but you already have a permanent residence permit, that begs questions,” Motsoaledi said.
He said in 2016 the Bushiris applied for permanent residence and gave a Pretoria address.
“In 2019, while the Hawks were investigating criminal cases [against the Bushiris], they saw discrepancies in their documents,” said Motsoaledi.
The home affairs department issued notices to the couple to withdraw their permanent residence permits. The Bushiris approached the court and successfully had the notices suspended until they pleaded to the money laundering case before the Pretoria high court.
Would they have been deported?
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said Bushiri had not been charged for being in possession of multiple passports and entering the country fraudulently.
She said if convicted, Bushiri and his wife would serve their sentences in SA.
A criminal law expert said if convicted, Bushiri faced deportation.
“It’s really up to the authorities. They can say he must serve his sentence and then the immigration process must take its course or they can say chuck him out immediately,” said criminal law expert Prof Stephen Tuson.
Can the church survive without him?
Religious expert Prof Tinyiko Maluleke said Bushiri’s incarceration, if this was the outcome of a trial, would lead to the demise of the church.
“There would be a crisis of faith [among followers], given that these kinds of churches are led by the founder and the founder is brand and embodiment of everything. It would be a crisis because Bushiri is ECG and there is no ECG without Bushiri. He is the church,” Maluleke said.
He said churches like Bushiri's were also unlikely to have a succession plan.
“In its current form, the church is not likely to survive [without Bushiri]. Churches like these normally have a succession planning problem. Whether he goes to jail or dies, they would have the same crisis,” Maluleke said.
This is contrary to what Bushiri’s supporters believe.
Fervent followers
One of his followers, Lolly Maqhama, a Lesotho national, said she would still support him even if he were found guilty.
“Whatever happens, I will support him. Come what may, I am not shaken.”
She said she didn’t believe “Major One’s” incarceration, if it ever occurred, would destroy the church.
“If anything, the church is growing bigger” Maqhama said.
Mannex Erastus Shams from Zambia said Bushiri had had a positive impact in his life.
“After I met Major One, my life has changed. Financially, everything about my life just changed. There is a certain anointing that the man of God has,” Shams said.
He said Bushiri had prophesied that he would be incarcerated.
“The man of God told us he would go to jail. This is a revelation. He had an encounter with the heavens. We are aware of what is happening,” said Shams.
He said all he wanted to see was justice prevailing in his leader’s case.
“Whether he is there or not, the numbers will grow. God can speak to anyone. I have been praying and standing for my father because the Bible says watch and pray. We have watched what he is going through. We have been praying for him. Justice must prevail.”
LISTEN | Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary get bail of R200,000 each
Subscribe: iono.fm, Spotify, Apple Podcast, Pocket Casts, Player.fm
DIPLOMATIC PASSPORTS EXPLAINED
Spokesperson for the department of department of international relations and cooperation, Clayson Monyela, and immigration expert Gary Eisenberg explained who qualifies for a diplomatic passport and under which circumstances it is issued.
“A diplomatic passport is given by a government of a country to a person who has been specifically assigned to represent that country diplomatically,” said Eisenberg.“It is usually [issued to] political representatives and other people who have a mandate from government to represent them on official business.
"If you come from Malawi and you are close to the government, let’s say you are a lawyer, a pastor or a doctor, the government can say ‘we are giving you a diplomatic mandate and you should be protected. You should have all the diplomatic immunities to protect you from prosecution’.
"A diplomatic passport, Eisenberg said, is not given “willy-nilly”.
“It’s a serious thing. It could be that a person makes a big contribution to the country and they are given the diplomatic passport as a reward."
Monyela said countries issue diplomatic passports to different categories of people such as presidents, deputy presidents, ministers and deputy ministers and prominent people in society.
“There are policies developed in each country on who should qualify for a diplomatic passport. It’s not standard in every country.
“It makes travelling easy. For instance, there is a dedicated lane for diplomats at airports.” According to Monyela, a person who holds a diplomatic passport doesn’t always need a visa. “You can travel anywhere. You are given special treatment. It’s useful for ease of travel.”
Monyela said: "Diplomatic immunity applies to diplomats. South Africans posted to our embassy in Malawi are governed by the Vienna Convention, which covers immunities for diplomats.
“If one of our diplomats commits a crime, authorities of the country do not have the authority to arrest that person because he carries a diplomatic passport and enjoys immunity. They can report him to SA and ask that the immunity be lifted so they can effect the arrest.
“Bushiri would not be covered by the immunity. The Vienna Convention does not cover him,” Monyela said.
